Should Owners Of Second Homes Lose The Right To Council Tax Discounts?
| Related: | Property, Home & Garden•Property & Living•Council Tax |
Rumours are abound that an announcement will be made within the next 7 days to abolish these discounts. I guess that it would be a fair decision.
Responses (7)
I suppose if your lucky enough to own two homes then the likely possibility is you probably can afford council tax on both properties. Unless your in a paticular situation and perhaps having difficulty selling one of the properties. I would be interested to hear the new criteria on who is eligible for coucil tax discounts if it will change.
I agree with Serena, if you can afford to have two homes and more importantly keep one unoccupied, then you should be required to pay council tax on it.
Given the limited housing stock and the additional strains placed on local authorities to house people, which means some are placed in B&B at considerable cost.
Second homes are considered a luxury and should be covered by the prevailing council tax.
This has long been the situation in North Wales (Gywnedd Council) due partly to the high number of properties which are second/holiday homes. Individual councils decide whether they will or won't give discounts for second homes - there currently isn't a 'blanket policy' throughout the uk.
I suppose they are looking at everything to make money from and if you have two properties they should make a charge perhaps 75% of the rates seeing they won't be using the facilities all the time. There was some suggestion of giving us a refund of approx. £20 on our rates but whether that will come off I don't know.
Wouldn't hold your breath sabre, I'm sure that will fizzle away and never heard of again
At the moment this discount is up to the local authority and is allowable between 10% and 50% for furnished and between 10% and 100% for unfurnished property.
I believe it is fair for second home owners and landlords to be charged 100% council tax 100% of the time.
Yes, I think it would, CS.
In my view, if you can afford to keep more than one property you can probably afford to pay more than one Council Tax bill.
Surely, any available discounts should be given to low income families who are struggling to maintain one home in the current economic climate.
It sounds fair to me if, as others have said, it is a case of those owning a second home that is not used for the greater part of the year. I see no reason to allow a discount and the full amount of tax should be paid. I guess that there will be exceptions for properties that have been inherited and are in the process of being re-registered or sold.
Definitely a good idea. 100% council tax, 100% of the time on 2nd and subsequent homes.
I'd also abolish the tax breaks people get on selling second and subsequent properties (e.g. no CGT if you've lived in it for a month during the past 3 years).
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Sorry, I read your comment after I had posted mine, serena.
I agree if you have difficulty selling a property, maybe one you have inherited from an elderly parent, then perhaps the CT on that should be waived. Maybe it could be paid retrospectively when the property is sold.
When my brother and I inherited our mother's house in Scotland, which we decided to sell, we were allowed 6 months grace without council tax payments, then we would have had to pay it in full from then on. Luckily we managed to sell it within the grace time. I thought that was fair.