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2nd home council tax

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  • ReadySteadyPop
    ReadySteadyPop Posts: 1,670 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
    FlorayG said:
    I don't think you have much of a case. While your situation is slightly different to those who have a 'holiday home', the council will say you could rent somewhere or have lodgings or stay in an AirBnB or hotel 3 nights a week while a local family could buy your property and live in it.

    Agree. Is there any need to own a property where you will only stay for a maximum of 40% of the time?
    Wealthy people do this all the time, with multiple properties, 40% of the time is quite a lot.
    The OP doesn't appear to be that wealthy as they are considering selling up and leaving their job. Also I said a maximum of 40%, the usage is probably nearer 30%  which means the property is unused for considerably more time than it used. 
     To the people advocating double or more council tax to get more "locals" prioritised this would be win win, an extra house and an extra job for a local? The irony is that it was the "global village" experiment with it`s super low interest rates and super cheap goods from China that allowed loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property in the first place! Previous generations of working people didn`t have that access to credit/equity, but the reversal could be brutal as councils now treat property as a revenue gathering tool?
    What are you talking about? "Global Village Experiment?" "Loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property?"


    You can rail and rant on about the second home premium until the cows come home but it is what the government wants and will thus stay until Parliament decides otherwise.
    Without super cheap mortgage debt a lot of people wouldn`t have second homes, now they are in a position of much more expensive mortgage debt, higher cost of living AND double (or more if some people get their way!) council tax!
    Where's your evidence of "super cheap mortgage debt"?
    2010 to 2021 is a good place to look.
    That's not evidence of SCMD just a time when interest rates were low, house prices weren't, so mortgages were still costly
    Under Thatcher in November 1979 Boe interest rates hit 17%. No offence but young kids today have no idea.

    I had a for then large mortgage, two salaries coming in, tough ..
    I remember paying 13% on mortgage interest, but in 1979, because of a transfer to a higher priced property area I was receiving "excess rent allowance" so some of it was paid for me
    Base rate hit 17% in 1979?
    Someone already mentioned that several posts earlier. Do keep up!
    Always worth mentioning again I think.
    Not really as it was 46 years ago and of no relevance today
    People used to say that about 5% rates.
    Your point being?
    What would you say is the main difference between today`s economy and the economy of 1979?
    This would make a good A Level Economics question? But as this thread is about CT I fail to see the relevance
    The relevance is that borrowing rates affect second home ownership numbers.
    Borrowing rates also affect first home ownership, but your comparison is still irrelevant
    That is certainly true

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/290623/uk-housing-market-monthly-sales-volumes/

    But it is obviously also true that the high number of second homes is strongly correlated with the cheap debt era.
  • theartfullodger
    theartfullodger Posts: 15,709 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    FlorayG said:
    I don't think you have much of a case. While your situation is slightly different to those who have a 'holiday home', the council will say you could rent somewhere or have lodgings or stay in an AirBnB or hotel 3 nights a week while a local family could buy your property and live in it.

    Agree. Is there any need to own a property where you will only stay for a maximum of 40% of the time?
    Wealthy people do this all the time, with multiple properties, 40% of the time is quite a lot.
    The OP doesn't appear to be that wealthy as they are considering selling up and leaving their job. Also I said a maximum of 40%, the usage is probably nearer 30%  which means the property is unused for considerably more time than it used. 
     To the people advocating double or more council tax to get more "locals" prioritised this would be win win, an extra house and an extra job for a local? The irony is that it was the "global village" experiment with it`s super low interest rates and super cheap goods from China that allowed loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property in the first place! Previous generations of working people didn`t have that access to credit/equity, but the reversal could be brutal as councils now treat property as a revenue gathering tool?
    What are you talking about? "Global Village Experiment?" "Loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property?"


    You can rail and rant on about the second home premium until the cows come home but it is what the government wants and will thus stay until Parliament decides otherwise.
    Without super cheap mortgage debt a lot of people wouldn`t have second homes, now they are in a position of much more expensive mortgage debt, higher cost of living AND double (or more if some people get their way!) council tax!
    Where's your evidence of "super cheap mortgage debt"?
    2010 to 2021 is a good place to look.
    That's not evidence of SCMD just a time when interest rates were low, house prices weren't, so mortgages were still costly
    Under Thatcher in November 1979 Boe interest rates hit 17%. No offence but young kids today have no idea.

    I had a for then large mortgage, two salaries coming in, tough ..
    I remember paying 13% on mortgage interest, but in 1979, because of a transfer to a higher priced property area I was receiving "excess rent allowance" so some of it was paid for me
    Base rate hit 17% in 1979?
    Someone already mentioned that several posts earlier. Do keep up!
    Always worth mentioning again I think.
    Not really as it was 46 years ago and of no relevance today
    They all say that until rates shoot up again (they will, they will).  Bit of a shock for me when interest rates went from 7% to 17% in less than 2 years Nov 1979 (Thatcher...).  see...
    https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp

    - had a large mortgage for those days.  Tough..

    Best wishes to all
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 18,934 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    FlorayG said:
    I don't think you have much of a case. While your situation is slightly different to those who have a 'holiday home', the council will say you could rent somewhere or have lodgings or stay in an AirBnB or hotel 3 nights a week while a local family could buy your property and live in it.

    Agree. Is there any need to own a property where you will only stay for a maximum of 40% of the time?
    Wealthy people do this all the time, with multiple properties, 40% of the time is quite a lot.
    The OP doesn't appear to be that wealthy as they are considering selling up and leaving their job. Also I said a maximum of 40%, the usage is probably nearer 30%  which means the property is unused for considerably more time than it used. 
     To the people advocating double or more council tax to get more "locals" prioritised this would be win win, an extra house and an extra job for a local? The irony is that it was the "global village" experiment with it`s super low interest rates and super cheap goods from China that allowed loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property in the first place! Previous generations of working people didn`t have that access to credit/equity, but the reversal could be brutal as councils now treat property as a revenue gathering tool?
    What are you talking about? "Global Village Experiment?" "Loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property?"


    You can rail and rant on about the second home premium until the cows come home but it is what the government wants and will thus stay until Parliament decides otherwise.
    Without super cheap mortgage debt a lot of people wouldn`t have second homes, now they are in a position of much more expensive mortgage debt, higher cost of living AND double (or more if some people get their way!) council tax!
    Where's your evidence of "super cheap mortgage debt"?
    2010 to 2021 is a good place to look.
    That's not evidence of SCMD just a time when interest rates were low, house prices weren't, so mortgages were still costly
    Under Thatcher in November 1979 Boe interest rates hit 17%. No offence but young kids today have no idea.

    I had a for then large mortgage, two salaries coming in, tough ..
    I remember paying 13% on mortgage interest, but in 1979, because of a transfer to a higher priced property area I was receiving "excess rent allowance" so some of it was paid for me
    Base rate hit 17% in 1979?
    Someone already mentioned that several posts earlier. Do keep up!
    Always worth mentioning again I think.
    Not really as it was 46 years ago and of no relevance today
    They all say that until rates shoot up again (they will, they will).  Bit of a shock for me when interest rates went from 7% to 17% in less than 2 years Nov 1979 (Thatcher...).  see...
    https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp

    - had a large mortgage for those days.  Tough..

    Best wishes to all
    It is irrelevant to the thread as this is the opening post of the thread

    Hi, I use a 2nd home which I've bought to stay at while working away 2 or 3 nights a week. I've always paid full council tax on this but I've just had my year's bill doubled with a 100% uplift for 2nd home, they now want nearly 4.3k a year. Is there anyway to reduce this as I now have to consider leaving my job and selling up as I now have a combined council tax bill of 6.5k. Feeling a bit done over at the moment. 

    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • ReadySteadyPop
    ReadySteadyPop Posts: 1,670 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
    FlorayG said:
    I don't think you have much of a case. While your situation is slightly different to those who have a 'holiday home', the council will say you could rent somewhere or have lodgings or stay in an AirBnB or hotel 3 nights a week while a local family could buy your property and live in it.

    Agree. Is there any need to own a property where you will only stay for a maximum of 40% of the time?
    Wealthy people do this all the time, with multiple properties, 40% of the time is quite a lot.
    The OP doesn't appear to be that wealthy as they are considering selling up and leaving their job. Also I said a maximum of 40%, the usage is probably nearer 30%  which means the property is unused for considerably more time than it used. 
     To the people advocating double or more council tax to get more "locals" prioritised this would be win win, an extra house and an extra job for a local? The irony is that it was the "global village" experiment with it`s super low interest rates and super cheap goods from China that allowed loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property in the first place! Previous generations of working people didn`t have that access to credit/equity, but the reversal could be brutal as councils now treat property as a revenue gathering tool?
    What are you talking about? "Global Village Experiment?" "Loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property?"


    You can rail and rant on about the second home premium until the cows come home but it is what the government wants and will thus stay until Parliament decides otherwise.
    Without super cheap mortgage debt a lot of people wouldn`t have second homes, now they are in a position of much more expensive mortgage debt, higher cost of living AND double (or more if some people get their way!) council tax!
    Where's your evidence of "super cheap mortgage debt"?
    2010 to 2021 is a good place to look.
    That's not evidence of SCMD just a time when interest rates were low, house prices weren't, so mortgages were still costly
    Under Thatcher in November 1979 Boe interest rates hit 17%. No offence but young kids today have no idea.

    I had a for then large mortgage, two salaries coming in, tough ..
    I remember paying 13% on mortgage interest, but in 1979, because of a transfer to a higher priced property area I was receiving "excess rent allowance" so some of it was paid for me
    Base rate hit 17% in 1979?
    Someone already mentioned that several posts earlier. Do keep up!
    Always worth mentioning again I think.
    Not really as it was 46 years ago and of no relevance today
    They all say that until rates shoot up again (they will, they will).  Bit of a shock for me when interest rates went from 7% to 17% in less than 2 years Nov 1979 (Thatcher...).  see...
    https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp

    - had a large mortgage for those days.  Tough..

    Best wishes to all
    It is irrelevant to the thread as this is the opening post of the thread

    Hi, I use a 2nd home which I've bought to stay at while working away 2 or 3 nights a week. I've always paid full council tax on this but I've just had my year's bill doubled with a 100% uplift for 2nd home, they now want nearly 4.3k a year. Is there anyway to reduce this as I now have to consider leaving my job and selling up as I now have a combined council tax bill of 6.5k. Feeling a bit done over at the moment. 

    I can`t see anything there saying that a mortgage wasn`t used to buy?
  • Yorkie1
    Yorkie1 Posts: 12,046 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 31 March at 6:24PM
    Yorkie1 said:

    since when has any post from crashy had a point?
    Dunno, but all of his posts on this thread have now disappeared ...?!
    no they have not, it appears you do not appreciate who crashy (currently) is
    Just realised I had put RSP on Ignore ... which would explain the apparent lack of visibility of their posts!!  :smile:
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 18,934 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    FlorayG said:
    I don't think you have much of a case. While your situation is slightly different to those who have a 'holiday home', the council will say you could rent somewhere or have lodgings or stay in an AirBnB or hotel 3 nights a week while a local family could buy your property and live in it.

    Agree. Is there any need to own a property where you will only stay for a maximum of 40% of the time?
    Wealthy people do this all the time, with multiple properties, 40% of the time is quite a lot.
    The OP doesn't appear to be that wealthy as they are considering selling up and leaving their job. Also I said a maximum of 40%, the usage is probably nearer 30%  which means the property is unused for considerably more time than it used. 
     To the people advocating double or more council tax to get more "locals" prioritised this would be win win, an extra house and an extra job for a local? The irony is that it was the "global village" experiment with it`s super low interest rates and super cheap goods from China that allowed loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property in the first place! Previous generations of working people didn`t have that access to credit/equity, but the reversal could be brutal as councils now treat property as a revenue gathering tool?
    What are you talking about? "Global Village Experiment?" "Loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property?"


    You can rail and rant on about the second home premium until the cows come home but it is what the government wants and will thus stay until Parliament decides otherwise.
    Without super cheap mortgage debt a lot of people wouldn`t have second homes, now they are in a position of much more expensive mortgage debt, higher cost of living AND double (or more if some people get their way!) council tax!
    Where's your evidence of "super cheap mortgage debt"?
    2010 to 2021 is a good place to look.
    That's not evidence of SCMD just a time when interest rates were low, house prices weren't, so mortgages were still costly
    Under Thatcher in November 1979 Boe interest rates hit 17%. No offence but young kids today have no idea.

    I had a for then large mortgage, two salaries coming in, tough ..
    I remember paying 13% on mortgage interest, but in 1979, because of a transfer to a higher priced property area I was receiving "excess rent allowance" so some of it was paid for me
    Base rate hit 17% in 1979?
    Someone already mentioned that several posts earlier. Do keep up!
    Always worth mentioning again I think.
    Not really as it was 46 years ago and of no relevance today
    They all say that until rates shoot up again (they will, they will).  Bit of a shock for me when interest rates went from 7% to 17% in less than 2 years Nov 1979 (Thatcher...).  see...
    https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp

    - had a large mortgage for those days.  Tough..

    Best wishes to all
    It is irrelevant to the thread as this is the opening post of the thread

    Hi, I use a 2nd home which I've bought to stay at while working away 2 or 3 nights a week. I've always paid full council tax on this but I've just had my year's bill doubled with a 100% uplift for 2nd home, they now want nearly 4.3k a year. Is there anyway to reduce this as I now have to consider leaving my job and selling up as I now have a combined council tax bill of 6.5k. Feeling a bit done over at the moment. 

    I can`t see anything there saying that a mortgage wasn`t used to buy?
    Why do you keep harping on about mortgages??

    OP is looking for ways to reduce his CT liability, which there probably aren't any
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • Grumpy_chap
    Grumpy_chap Posts: 18,297 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    It is irrelevant to the thread as this is the opening post of the thread

    Hi, I use a 2nd home which I've bought to stay at while working away 2 or 3 nights a week. I've always paid full council tax on this but I've just had my year's bill doubled with a 100% uplift for 2nd home, they now want nearly 4.3k a year. Is there anyway to reduce this as I now have to consider leaving my job and selling up as I now have a combined council tax bill of 6.5k. Feeling a bit done over at the moment. 

    I can`t see anything there saying that a mortgage wasn`t used to buy?
    That could be an interesting question.

    The OP has clearly referenced their concern solely around the double CT, which is an increase in costs of around £2k per year.

    There is no reference to mortgage rates increasing and causing an affordability challenge.  That would suggest that either there is no mortgage (now, even if there was one once) or that increase in costs has rested in a different way with the OP and their assessment of what is a fair burden to carry.
  • sg1000
    sg1000 Posts: 67 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts
    I've got a second home with 200% Council tax, plus normal bills...I suck it up, as it's in a lovely area where we go on holiday and where my partner was brought up.  Worth every penny.
  • ReadySteadyPop
    ReadySteadyPop Posts: 1,670 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
    FlorayG said:
    I don't think you have much of a case. While your situation is slightly different to those who have a 'holiday home', the council will say you could rent somewhere or have lodgings or stay in an AirBnB or hotel 3 nights a week while a local family could buy your property and live in it.

    Agree. Is there any need to own a property where you will only stay for a maximum of 40% of the time?
    Wealthy people do this all the time, with multiple properties, 40% of the time is quite a lot.
    The OP doesn't appear to be that wealthy as they are considering selling up and leaving their job. Also I said a maximum of 40%, the usage is probably nearer 30%  which means the property is unused for considerably more time than it used. 
     To the people advocating double or more council tax to get more "locals" prioritised this would be win win, an extra house and an extra job for a local? The irony is that it was the "global village" experiment with it`s super low interest rates and super cheap goods from China that allowed loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property in the first place! Previous generations of working people didn`t have that access to credit/equity, but the reversal could be brutal as councils now treat property as a revenue gathering tool?
    What are you talking about? "Global Village Experiment?" "Loads of ordinary people to hoover up extra property?"


    You can rail and rant on about the second home premium until the cows come home but it is what the government wants and will thus stay until Parliament decides otherwise.
    Without super cheap mortgage debt a lot of people wouldn`t have second homes, now they are in a position of much more expensive mortgage debt, higher cost of living AND double (or more if some people get their way!) council tax!
    Where's your evidence of "super cheap mortgage debt"?
    2010 to 2021 is a good place to look.
    That's not evidence of SCMD just a time when interest rates were low, house prices weren't, so mortgages were still costly
    Under Thatcher in November 1979 Boe interest rates hit 17%. No offence but young kids today have no idea.

    I had a for then large mortgage, two salaries coming in, tough ..
    I remember paying 13% on mortgage interest, but in 1979, because of a transfer to a higher priced property area I was receiving "excess rent allowance" so some of it was paid for me
    Base rate hit 17% in 1979?
    Someone already mentioned that several posts earlier. Do keep up!
    Always worth mentioning again I think.
    Not really as it was 46 years ago and of no relevance today
    They all say that until rates shoot up again (they will, they will).  Bit of a shock for me when interest rates went from 7% to 17% in less than 2 years Nov 1979 (Thatcher...).  see...
    https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp

    - had a large mortgage for those days.  Tough..

    Best wishes to all
    It is irrelevant to the thread as this is the opening post of the thread

    Hi, I use a 2nd home which I've bought to stay at while working away 2 or 3 nights a week. I've always paid full council tax on this but I've just had my year's bill doubled with a 100% uplift for 2nd home, they now want nearly 4.3k a year. Is there anyway to reduce this as I now have to consider leaving my job and selling up as I now have a combined council tax bill of 6.5k. Feeling a bit done over at the moment. 

    I can`t see anything there saying that a mortgage wasn`t used to buy?
    Why do you keep harping on about mortgages??

    OP is looking for ways to reduce his CT liability, which there probably aren't any
    The conversation moved on when a poster claimed that there were 800,000 second homes and that the people who own them would just skip one of their holidays in the South of France to pay the extra CT, I disagreed and said that because we have just come through the biggest cheap debt boom in history many people bought second homes with mortgage debt when the monthly payments were low and will now struggle with higher mortgage rates and double council tax. I think loads of people genuinely thought that mortgage rates would never rise and that there was no way property would become an open goal for a tax raid, looks like they were wrong?

    The two ways to reduce CT liability are to either live in the house or sell it.
  • ReadySteadyPop
    ReadySteadyPop Posts: 1,670 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
    sg1000 said:
    I've got a second home with 200% Council tax, plus normal bills...I suck it up, as it's in a lovely area where we go on holiday and where my partner was brought up.  Worth every penny.
    If there genuinely is a housing shortage (I don`t believe there is) then the next logical step would be 300% or higher in the hope that you sell up, would you be comfortable with this? Personally I think double CT on second homes is outrageous.
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