Councillors make move to scrap second home council tax discount

Graham_Devon

There were some moans earlier that good news was not posted on this site.

So here you are. Good news.

Cornwall councillors are looking to scrap the 10% council tax discount on second homes in Cornwall.

The 50% discount has already been scrapped.

However, the law says that councils must give a discount for second homes, so it will require a law change.

Councillors in Cornwall are to write to the government to ask for changes in the law to scrap council tax discounts for second homes.

The full council voted on Tuesday to write to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles for the changes.

It is estimated that at least one property in 20 in Cornwall is a second home - about 13,500 households.

Cornwall Council said the scrapping of the 10% discount would raise an extra £1.6m a year.

Hopefully, it may be the start of something, and other counties will hopefully follow suit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-14043912

vikingaero

If the law says that they have to give a discount then can they not make it 0.000005% discount and charge £200 application fee to recover the discount?

Graham_Devon

The law states a discount between 10 & 50%.

But the council are saying this isn't really fair now in communities with large numbers of second homes, as it means residents are being asked to subsidise second home owners....many of which can't even afford a first home.

ETA: There is a slight problem however. Apparently some second home owners are sticking two fingers up and stating they will simply switch to business rates. Not sure how this works really, but I assume it can be done.

My local councillor, back by a few others, is going one further. As a second home owner himself, he's lobbying for 200% council tax on second homes, suggesting some other countries charge more for second homes due to it being a luxury.

RenovationMan

This is great news. Don't get me started on people who buy holiday homes.

PasturesNew

The business rates con is: You register for business rates, you then don't make much money, so you get a "small firms rebate" - and end up paying even less than council tax. A lot of them already do it. And, business rates money goes out of the county - to London, I believe.

A lot of holiday homes, holiday lets, etc, whether on business rates or not, still put their bins out for the regular bin men - instead of paying for a private service like a business is supposed to.

the_flying_pig

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The law states a discount between 10 & 50%.

But the council are saying this isn't really fair now in communities with large numbers of second homes, as it means residents are being asked to subsidise second home owners....many of which can't even afford a first home.

ETA: There is a slight problem however. Apparently some second home owners are sticking two fingers up and stating they will simply switch to business rates. Not sure how this works really, but I assume it can be done.

My local councillor, back by a few others, is going one further. As a second home owner himself, he's lobbying for 200% council tax on second homes, suggesting some other countries charge more for second homes due to it being a luxury.

agree with all that.

Graham_Devon

PasturesNew wrote: »

The business rates con is: You register for business rates, you then don't make much money, so you get a "small firms rebate" - and end up paying even less than council tax. A lot of them already do it. And, business rates money goes out of the county - to London, I believe.

A lot of holiday homes, holiday lets, etc, whether on business rates or not, still put their bins out for the regular bin men - instead of paying for a private service like a business is supposed to.

Yep, you have that correct PN...I've looked into it further, and needn't have bothered if I saw your post!

While looking a bit further, a small town near myself surprisingly is comprised of 12% holiday homes. However, some pay business rates. They are therefore not classed as second homes. The percentage of second homes rises to 17% if those paying business rates were included.

So we get these second home figures laid out, and they will always be wrong!

As for the bins thng....good point. The news item on the cornwall second homes stated those people got to vote in elections twice, which would have been illegal, but they have no way of actually following it up. Being reversed now, but just think of the mistakes going on.

lostinrates

Graham_Devon wrote: »

My local councillor, back by a few others, is going one further. As a second home owner himself, he's lobbying for 200% council tax on second homes, suggesting some other countries charge more for second homes due to it being a luxury.

personally I think second home owners should pay 100% council tax. Not more, not less.

Personally it would be a PITA for us, that the thing, second homes aren't necessarily holiday homes. And when they are weekend homes, eveyr weekend they DO pull money into the area, the area I moved from is an example of that, as are parts of the Cotswolds. Yes, it pushes up house prices, (particularly for houses of a certain type) but it also keeps employment and makes the area attractive for businesses.

I think this is different from the description of total ghost towns in Cornish winters we read about.

edit:

also thinking wider than local economy, what we think of as primary residence in uk might just be ''holiday home''. Suppose its the sole UK home, but used say 4-8 months a year. Or a fortnight a year?

Le_Chuck

PasturesNew wrote: »

The business rates con is: You register for business rates, you then don't make much money, so you get a "small firms rebate" - and end up paying even less than council tax. A lot of them already do it. And, business rates money goes out of the county - to London, I believe.

A lot of holiday homes, holiday lets, etc, whether on business rates or not, still put their bins out for the regular bin men - instead of paying for a private service like a business is supposed to.

Its paid over to the government, who the redistribute it back to LA's based on population size. So the less well off areas are being subsidised.

Loughton_Monkey

Time to re-introduce the Poll Tax methinks!

PasturesNew

Le_Chuck wrote: »

Its paid over to the government, who the redistribute it back to LA's based on population size. So the less well off areas are being subsidised.

Is it a fixed formula though? Or what? Cornwall has a low population - especially as so many have had to leave due to lack of housing/affordable housing and any jobs.

Often, money that's doled out for any reason isn't doled out equally, or to a simple formula.

Maybe somebody has a link to such stats.