Wales - A tax on second homes

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One lever open to councils to influence local housing supply is the use of council tax. Sadly I won’t get to Wales on this trip but was interested to read this story in The Guardian. 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/01/wales-radical-new-policy-second-homes?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

From next year, councils will be able to raise discretionary council tax premiums for second homes to 300% – so a £1,000 bill for a permanent resident would be £4,000 for a second-home owner. The government is also tightening the rules to ensure these owners cannot avoid the hefty tax by renting houses out as holiday lets for relatively short amounts of time, and plans to introduce a licensing scheme for holiday homes. Councils in second-home hotspots are to be allowed to apply to the Welsh government to increase land transaction tax – the Welsh equivalent of England’s stamp duty – to dampen prices.

This week it set the wheels in motion for a scheme to give local authorities the option to classify homes as primary residences, second homes or holiday lets. An owner would need planning permission to change a property’s classification from a primary residence to a second home, which the government hopes will help keep more properties available for local people.






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