Council tax anticipated to double for a lot of second-home house owners

Council tax is predicted to double for a lot of second-home house owners below new legal guidelines that can reportedly affect practically half of all related properties.

Local authorities shall be given the ability to extend the quantity of council tax that may be charged on second properties, in line with reviews. Holiday hotspots comparable to Devon, Cornwall, the Lake District and Norfolk have already accepted the tax hike plan.

And one-in-four councils in England are reportedly planning to double council tax on second-homes. This would increase an estimated £200 million in extra tax income.

It’s believed that round 40 per cent of second-homes would see their council tax raised on the first alternative. This would see greater than 100,000 property house owners hit with increased payments.

MPs within the West Country, the place the variety of second properties is having a extreme affect on native communities – have requested for the ability to quadruple council tax. However, second-home house owners and leaders within the tourism business have blasted the Government’s plan. They say they’re being “scapegoated” to make up for the Government’s failure to construct sufficient reasonably priced properties.

But Labour apparently does not assume the plans go far sufficient. It has already introduced that, if elected, it should enable native authorities to treble council tax payments on second properties and says it will introduce a licensing system for vacation lets.

However, analysis commissioned by the Welsh authorities – which launched comparable legal guidelines 4 years in the past – confirmed that there’s “limited evidence of the effectiveness” of the council tax hikes.

And a former minister instructed The Telegraph: “Councils have got to be careful what they wish for, because if they turn off too many second-home owners, they might find that they lose spending power, especially in the summer period when they need to make money.

“They have to think how much they want to push second-home owners before it becomes counterproductive, they have to find a balance.

“Better broadband and more working from home also mean that people can actually spend longer periods of time on work-cations. They have to use these powers wisely because not all second-home owners are evil.”