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Tax "townies" out of second home ownership
Comments
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I never get why people want to restrict others from purchasing what they want.
It's like restricting people purchasing more than 4 pints of milk in their local corner shop. That might work in communist Russia but not the UK.
That is a silly argument. No need to restrict anyone from buying a second home. But if a community want to levy differential council taxes on properties that are unoccupied for long periods why should they not be able to do so. The owners are free to pay the tax if they wish to keep an empty property.Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.0 -
It's good to see that you agree with my point of view.That is a silly argument. No need to restrict anyone from buying a second home. But if a community want to levy differential council taxes on properties that are unoccupied for long periods why should they not be able to do so. The owners are free to pay the tax if they wish to keep an empty property.
With your silly argument, how do you propose allowing people who live 3 months of the year in the area contributing just 3 months worth of council tax as they only use local services for 3 months of the year anyway.0 -
If you cant get involved in the parish council, help out with weeding the local cricket pitch and make it to the local for at least one pint a week, p*ss off. We dont want you.
Have you ever been to a parish council meeting? I have - the locals don't seem that interested (other than the usual 10 that turn up). Maybe there was a clash and they all turned out for weed picking night at the cricket club instead.0 -
Difficult, this one. Agreed that its crazy that in popular areas, local families are priced out of their villages, but who's going to define 'Townies' if this comes off (which it won't). To take a case in point, our close Townie friends, having retired from stressfull public service jobs (no. I'm not joking- would you want to run kids or adult social services in an east end borough?) increasingly spend time at their west Dorset village cottage, and are about to sell up in London and trade up in the country. They are close friends with everyone in the village there, and have exclusively used local tradespeople to rebuild their wreck. They and their visitors have probably pumped £many tens of thousands into the local economy in the last decade- much of it into the 2 village pubs! They obviously aren't helping keep the already well-attended local school open as their kids are long grown up, but they help fundraise for it.
So does Motion want them to live out their golden years in the East End...? Or will they need a visa to relocate?
Suppose you were told that the local school was to close because the number of children using it was insufficient to justify it?Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.0 -
Shame for townies and locals to be at each others' throats.
Government could bring them together at a stroke simply by floating plans to build some houses for younger people to live in somewhere vaguely nearby.
That'd have old and new inhabitants joining forces right away.FACT.0 -
With your silly argument, how do you propose allowing people who live 3 months of the year in the area contributing just 3 months worth of council tax as they only use local services for 3 months of the year anyway.
All I said was that if the local council wants to do it then its not the communism you were speaking about. Whether it makes sense is for the local community to decide. I assume that if these Townies so enrich their community they will choose not to levy additional taxes.
Whether its feasible in practice is a different matter.Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.0 -
I have little sympathy with rich boys buying up rural property to chill at the weekend. I have started to see it in our area (spillover from the cotswolds). It started with Shane Warne and Liz moving in down the road and has gradually got worse. I have no issue with building on greenbelt for local kids, I have big issues with people 'escaping' from the city and killing the local community spirit, which was key to our move. If you cant get involved in the parish council, help out with weeding the local cricket pitch and make it to the local for at least one pint a week, p*ss off. We dont want you.
Do you think it OK for those locals to go London and freeze out the 'locals' there; maybe that's different.0 -
If indeed that is true, in a place with plenty of land, then either there are no jobs so people ought to move elsewhere or political consideration have interfered with the market to the detriment of those local people.
Either way the solution is with the hands of the locals.Do you think it OK for those locals to go London and freeze out the 'locals' there; maybe that's different.
If that is where all the well paid work is that is what happens.
"political consideration have interfered with the market to the detriment of those local people.
Either way the solution is with the hands of the locals"
No doubt those in locals London will be sorting out their affordable housing problems."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »If that is where all the well paid work is that is what happens.
"political consideration have interfered with the market to the detriment of those local people.
Either way the solution is with the hands of the locals"
No doubt those in locals London will be sorting out their affordable housing problems.
There is indeed scope to improve housing in London; however relative to the population there is a lot less spare land available than in Devon.
The problems of Devon's housing is entirely political and has little to do with people with second homes.
If everyone with second homes in Devon/Cornwall had their properties seized by the state, there would be more housing for locals but would the numbers of jobs available increase?0 -
the_flying_pig wrote: »Shame for townies and locals to be at each others' throats.
Government could bring them together at a stroke simply by floating plans to build some houses for younger people to live in somewhere vaguely nearby.
That'd have old and new inhabitants joining forces right away.
You are absolutely correct, townies and locals would be in total agreement - Unfortunately they would all oppose the plans for new houses.
I used to live in a small Devon village. The pub locals used to moan how unfair it was that the youngsters had to move out because they couldn't afford property. However, when there was a proposal for more houses on the edge of the village, everyone was up in arms - views would be spoiled, traffic would increase, house prices would fall, etc.
Secend home owners wouldn't want more houses in case it affected the price of their investment.0
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