Councillors make move to scrap second home council tax discount

PasturesNew

In some parts of Cornwall there are 75% holiday homes. Mostly empty. The local shops no longer sell eggs/bread/milk, but posh tat for posh visitors... and are only open in peak season. Then they shut down and shutter up until next year. Open 4 months, closed 8 months.

It is true that nobody's got a real figure for how many exist. So many must be flying under the various radars and not on anybody's ticklist.

Article (one of dozens to be found), from 2008 saying holiday homes outnumber locals' homes in many parts of Cornwall. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579598/Cornwall-holiday-homes-outnumber-local-houses.html

I think if anybody could imagine half their town being emptied of people ... and used as holiday homes, they'd suddenly realise the scale of it. We're not talking about the odd cottage dotted about here and there, but entire regions swamped.

neverdespairgirl

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.

As I understand it, business rates from all LAs are collected up and then shared out again. Otherwise places like Camden and Westminster would be quids in.

wotsthat

The other 19 out of 20 households should be looking forward to paying £6 per year less council tax if this goes through. The council will pass it on won't they?

nicko33

Graham_Devon wrote: »

So here you are. Good news.

Is that what you say whenever taxes go up?

CLAPTON

bizarre

the problem with devon and cornwall is the lack of jobs

solution : increase tax on second homes; that's the sort of thinking that will really make them prosper

Graham_Devon

nicko33 wrote: »

Is that what you say whenever taxes go up?

Tax isn't going up.

They are looking at removing the discount.

Just means that one homeowner pays the same as another home owner.

FTBFun

I'm all for this.

Let's face it, if you can afford to buy a second home, you can afford to pay full council tax on it.

wotsthat

CLAPTON wrote: »

bizarre

the problem with devon and cornwall is the lack of jobs

solution : increase tax on second homes; that's the sort of thinking that will really make them prosper

There are, according to the article, 13,500 second homes in the county. The council clearly thinks these people are loaded and you can bet that the Cornish will not object to a tax on them.

It's stupid. The sums of money are trivial - they should be looking at ways to get second home owners to increase the occupancy rates and local spend rather than providing disincentives, however small, for people with money to avoid the area.

nicko33

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Tax isn't going up.

They are looking at removing the discount.

Just means that one homeowner pays the same as another home owner.

Would you like to see the single-occupancy discount removed also then?
So that one homeowner pays the same as another home owner.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Tax isn't going up.

They are looking at removing the discount.

Just means that one homeowner pays the same as another home owner.

If the discount is removed then the tax burden increases - isn't that obvious?

That is unless the council reduce council tax to make this a neutral change so that total tax take stays the same - yeah right.