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13
Nov
Finance chief defends second home council tax levy
North Yorkshire Council's finance chief has defended the doubling of council tax on second homes after revealing the policy is expected to generate £14.5 million.
The council introduced the policy for a 100% council tax premium in April this year, which it hoped would raise around £10 million a year.
However, the move proved controversial with some councillors claiming it would cause more harm than good and that the policy had “so many loopholes”.
At a full council meeting yesterday (November 12), Cllr Gareth Dadd, executive councillor for finance, said he had received abusive emails after introducing the premium.
However, he added that the move was estimated to generate “in the region of £14.5 million” for the council and had reduced the number of second homes in North Yorkshire by 1,200.
He said:
I have had verging on abusive emails as a result of the policy, which nobody should have to put up with. I suspect most members around the chamber will have had something similar as well.
I think we have done the right thing. I think the figures and the expectation have been proved correct.
The move comes as the council announced plans in March to use the revenue raised to build more than 500 affordable homes.
The plans include using £12m from the premium for the council’s affordable housing delivery fund to build 400 new houses.
‘Downright robbery’
Despite the revenue raised by the policy, some councillors remained critical of the move.
Cllr Sam Cross, independent councillor for Filey, described the estimated revenue raised from the policy as “downright robbery”.
He said:
We have not collected £14.5 million, we have robbed £14.5 million of honest people that are paying their council tax at the full rate that can’t unfortunately use their property.
These people are now struggling to sell these properties because most of them are apartments and flats. That is causing great concern to many.
But Cllr Dadd said he stood by the second homes policy and that he was not going to “re-run the debate”. He said:
There’s a clear option for second home owners if they can’t afford their second home. Dear, oh dear, my heart bleeds for them.
They’ve had at least two years notice to deal with this potential issue. They can let them out to the local market or they can sell them.
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