Second home council tax reduction

ReadySteadyPop

artyboy said:

MeteredOut said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

It's good to see a council's holiday home tax policy having a positive effect. Any relief is normally a one off, so I suspect the answer will be no. 

So "holiday homes" only for the rich is the future? 

No, only for those that can afford to pay double for the services available to those homes. Not necessarily the same thing.

Fixed that for you. We can argue the rights and wrongs but the reality is that it's a higher charge than any 1st home resident would be paying for the same level of service.

Yes, it is purely about filling budget gaps, the "homes for local families" is just there to make it acceptable.

BikingBud

ReadySteadyPop said:

artyboy said:

MeteredOut said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

It's good to see a council's holiday home tax policy having a positive effect. Any relief is normally a one off, so I suspect the answer will be no. 

So "holiday homes" only for the rich is the future? 

No, only for those that can afford to pay double for the services available to those homes. Not necessarily the same thing.

Fixed that for you. We can argue the rights and wrongs but the reality is that it's a higher charge than any 1st home resident would be paying for the same level of service.

Yes, it is purely about filling budget gaps, the "homes for local families" is just there to make it acceptable.

Especially if those who are supposed to be looking after the interest of local people abuse the system!🫣

ReadySteadyPop

lincroft1710 said:

Does your council impose a 100% surcharge on unoccupied properties?

This seems to be getting more popular with councils.

Bigphil1474

ReadySteadyPop said:

artyboy said:

MeteredOut said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

It's good to see a council's holiday home tax policy having a positive effect. Any relief is normally a one off, so I suspect the answer will be no. 

So "holiday homes" only for the rich is the future? 

No, only for those that can afford to pay double for the services available to those homes. Not necessarily the same thing.

Fixed that for you. We can argue the rights and wrongs but the reality is that it's a higher charge than any 1st home resident would be paying for the same level of service.

Yes, it is purely about filling budget gaps, the "homes for local families" is just there to make it acceptable.

It really isn't. Council tax only pays for about 30% of council services, so having a few holiday home owners pay double council tax doesn't make a huge impact on council budgets. It does put off some people who might otherwise own or not sell a holiday home, in which a local could live and contribute to the local economy the whole year, not just a few weeks here and there. 

ReadySteadyPop

Bigphil1474 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

artyboy said:

MeteredOut said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

It's good to see a council's holiday home tax policy having a positive effect. Any relief is normally a one off, so I suspect the answer will be no. 

So "holiday homes" only for the rich is the future? 

No, only for those that can afford to pay double for the services available to those homes. Not necessarily the same thing.

Fixed that for you. We can argue the rights and wrongs but the reality is that it's a higher charge than any 1st home resident would be paying for the same level of service.

Yes, it is purely about filling budget gaps, the "homes for local families" is just there to make it acceptable.

It really isn't. Council tax only pays for about 30% of council services, so having a few holiday home owners pay double council tax doesn't make a huge impact on council budgets. It does put off some people who might otherwise own or not sell a holiday home, in which a local could live and contribute to the local economy the whole year, not just a few weeks here and there. 

So council tax only pays for about a third of services in various over-spent over-borrowed councils and this is all about housing local families? Lets agree to disagree shall we? The next target for more tax from an over-spent over-borrowed government will be landlords and people with lodgers, can we agree on the direction the tide is turning at least?

[Deleted User]

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

artyboy said:

MeteredOut said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

It's good to see a council's holiday home tax policy having a positive effect. Any relief is normally a one off, so I suspect the answer will be no. 

So "holiday homes" only for the rich is the future? 

No, only for those that can afford to pay double for the services available to those homes. Not necessarily the same thing.

Fixed that for you. We can argue the rights and wrongs but the reality is that it's a higher charge than any 1st home resident would be paying for the same level of service.

Yes, it is purely about filling budget gaps, the "homes for local families" is just there to make it acceptable.

It really isn't. Council tax only pays for about 30% of council services, so having a few holiday home owners pay double council tax doesn't make a huge impact on council budgets. It does put off some people who might otherwise own or not sell a holiday home, in which a local could live and contribute to the local economy the whole year, not just a few weeks here and there. 

So council tax only pays for about a third of services in various over-spent over-borrowed councils and this is all about housing local families? Lets agree to disagree shall we? The next target for more tax from an over-spent over-borrowed government will be landlords and people with lodgers, can we agree on the direction the tide is turning at least?

Not really until things like a land value and proper ad valorem tax (by ownership) are introduced.

Second homes (not required for work purposes and other exceptions) should be heavily taxed generally too.

ReadySteadyPop

[Deleted User] said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

artyboy said:

MeteredOut said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Bigphil1474 said:

It's good to see a council's holiday home tax policy having a positive effect. Any relief is normally a one off, so I suspect the answer will be no. 

So "holiday homes" only for the rich is the future? 

No, only for those that can afford to pay double for the services available to those homes. Not necessarily the same thing.

Fixed that for you. We can argue the rights and wrongs but the reality is that it's a higher charge than any 1st home resident would be paying for the same level of service.

Yes, it is purely about filling budget gaps, the "homes for local families" is just there to make it acceptable.

It really isn't. Council tax only pays for about 30% of council services, so having a few holiday home owners pay double council tax doesn't make a huge impact on council budgets. It does put off some people who might otherwise own or not sell a holiday home, in which a local could live and contribute to the local economy the whole year, not just a few weeks here and there. 

So council tax only pays for about a third of services in various over-spent over-borrowed councils and this is all about housing local families? Lets agree to disagree shall we? The next target for more tax from an over-spent over-borrowed government will be landlords and people with lodgers, can we agree on the direction the tide is turning at least?

Not really until things like a land value and proper ad valorem tax (by ownership) are introduced.

Second homes (not required for work purposes and other exceptions) should be heavily taxed generally too.

I don`t agree, if people can raise the finances they should be able to purchase second homes without penalty, there is no shortage, just look at how hard it is to sell new-builds in some areas now? The problem is that the banks were lending too much and then interest rates were kept far too low for too long encouraging people to leverage themselves into second homes that they couldn`t really afford in normal economic circumstances, the best way to tax property is to make it more dependant on salary rather than leveraged debt.

saajan_12

lordbadger said:

I am having to sell my holiday home as I cannot afford the enormous surcharge the Council have put on second homes. The one advantage of putting it on the market is that the Council tax surcharge is lifted for 12 months. If it does not sell is there any reason I cannot take it off the market after 12 months and then put it back on again some time later to benefit from a further 12 months saving?

Depends on the council. Some will say any given owner only gets the exemption once, so after the first 12 months, its back to the first price until there's a sale. 

ReadySteadyPop

saajan_12 said:

lordbadger said:

I am having to sell my holiday home as I cannot afford the enormous surcharge the Council have put on second homes. The one advantage of putting it on the market is that the Council tax surcharge is lifted for 12 months. If it does not sell is there any reason I cannot take it off the market after 12 months and then put it back on again some time later to benefit from a further 12 months saving?

Depends on the council. Some will say any given owner only gets the exemption once, so after the first 12 months, its back to the first price until there's a sale. 

Yes, most councils will have things set up so that you either sell up or pay up, would be very surprised if there is anywhere that lets you list a house for sale multiple times to avoid the CT uplift.