Owners of second homes in Wales are having to sell up. That’s no disaster: it’s a godsend | Will Hayward
www.theguardian.com
Council tax hikes on holiday homes aren’t ‘anti-English’ or detrimental to tourism. This is about preserving embattled communities, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward

geteilt von: https://sh.itjust.works/post/38301389

To try to tackle this, the Welsh Labour government, alongside Plaid Cymru, introduced measures to curb second-home ownership. This included giving councils the ability to push council tax on second homes to 300% the usual rate. They also closed a loophole whereby second-home owners could register as a business in order to pay the much lower business rates.

Gwynedd council used these powers to hike council tax to 150% in April 2023. By the end of 2024, house prices had fallen by 12.4% as second-home owners tried to sell up. In Pembrokeshire, house prices fell by 8.9% after the council increased the council tax to 200% on second homes (though this was reduced to 150% recently).

  • TheodorAlforno@feddit.orgEnglish
    40·
    7 hours ago

    As long as people can’t afford their first home, your cabin is not a priority. Plus, what’s the cost of that cabin? If it’s cheap, the tax increase won’t mean a huge increase in total numbers.

    • SourGumGum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 hours ago

      If your second home is in a location people don’t want to live, i.e not a city and in a small dying rural town where everyone is moving away? People can’t afford homes where they need to live and work, a small cabin by the lake won’t impact that.

    • Madagaskar_sky@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      5 hours ago

      I want a small cabin by a lake

      If it’s cheap, the tax increase won’t mean a huge increase

      The most important bit of information for people to take away from this conversation.