Second Home Council Tax

From next April we will be charging double council tax on second homes. All District Councils in Devon are doing the same. We have also all agreed to ringfence the extra monies raised for housing projects. In the South Hams this will be in the region of £750,000. There are other budgetary pressures, but it is the right thing to do. Housing for local people, especially key workers, is one of the biggest challenges we face.

By far the biggest beneficiary of this increase in Council Tax is the County Council. Every leader of the district, borough, and city councils in Devon wrote to the leader of the County Council, asking them to follow suit and invest in housing. The response has been very disappointing. The County was a big part of the recent Devon Housing Commission. The Commission recommended and I quote: ‘ that Devon County Council utilise a significant proportion of receipts from second homes Council Tax to help meet the county’s housing and infrastructure needs.’

Dinosaur of an Administration

We all know what ‘infrastructure needs’ means in this context, schools and doctor’s surgeries, new sewage systems and extra road capacity. However, it would appear the county is deliberately misinterpreting the recommendation. We have a once in a generation opportunity, with a windfall tax realising around £100 million over the next four years. With central government seemingly more obsessed purely with house numbers rather than our local housing need. It is the chance for local government to deliver for our local communities here in Devon.

Instead, Devon County Council plods on in its blinkered fashion. Where is the dynamism and innovative thinking we are crying out for? Why not invest the money in housing for key workers including carers, teachers, nurses and social workers. We struggle to recruit these people we desperately need often because they can’t afford to live here. A job offer that includes genuine affordable housing is bound to be more attractive and it’s investing in the future of Devon too.

No, Devon County wants to do it it’s way. Like an ancient dinosaur staggering to extinction. Happy to work with others if they do what they’re told. Pressing on down the same old path that has brought it to the brink of bankruptcy and failed services. Too arrogant to listen to the advice and support of willing partners. This bunker mentality has got to change.

Business Rates Loophole

Wales has already introduced the second home premium. I see a local councillor or was it an estate agent bemoaning that people were selling up, creating an over-supply of housing and resulting in a fall in house prices. Good, I thought was one of the objectives! It’s the usual suspects predicting the end of the world as we know it. Some owners may well switch to business rates or find other ways to avoid the extra tax. They always do.

We will continue to lobby government to close the business rates loophole. This allows owners to swap their properties from council tax to business rates. Most of these properties then qualify for small business rates relief, and as such pay no tax whatsoever. It means that council taxpayers are subsidising their businesses. They pay nothing towards road maintenance, policing, or the fire service.

These are the same group of people who received £10,000s in Covid grants from the previous government despite business never being so good. Let’s hope the new government can see the

unfairness and inequality in these schemes. It’s very simple, if you own a home you pay council tax and if it’s a second (or more,) you pay double on the extra ones.