Fivefold tax hike threat on second homes in the Dales

A report aimed at encouraging young families to live in the area, to counter the ageing and declining populations of many villages, has proposed a rise of “at least five times” the current tax rate for second homes. It would add around £6,600 to the annual bill for an average Band D property in the Craven district, and take the annual tax for a house in the top band to £16,400. The proposal will be discussed at a meeting of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority next Tuesday. It follows moves by council leaders across the Dales to restore existing second homes back into full-time occupancy and to force the owners of such properties to make “a similar socio-economic contribution” to the area as permanent residents Largely empty second homes account for nearly a quarter of the houses in some areas, civic leaders say, while younger generations unable to find anywhere they can afford migrate from the rural villages and market towns that have been their family homes. Coun Carl Lis, chairman of the National Park Authority, said a fivefold increase in council tax would recoup the £8,500 a year estimated to be lost to the local economy from each partially-occupied property. He told The Yorkshire Post: “This won’t solve the issue we have with a with an increasingly ageing demographic but nevertheless we feel we have to do something. “We’ve got a duty to future generations and some would say it’s a step too far but let them come up with alternatives.” The proposal, which if approved would be put to the five district and three county councils whose area the National Park covers, could be adjusted upwards or downwards, Coun Lis said. The aim was to protect and breathe new life into traditional communities, he added. “It is a fact that our local communities are in decline – and if a community dies altogether, what pleasure will it give anyone moving in to find that there’s nothing there but second homes?” The proposal does not cover holiday cottages – which means the owners of existing properties could avoid increased charges by converting them for holiday use. The report says: “There can be no doubt that the long term viability of communities in the National Park has been adversely affected by the level of second home ownership.” It adds that while some holiday lets are economically beneficial, second homes serve only to deny houses to permanent residents while also pushing up prices. The “full-time” housing stock in the Dales is in decline, with the number of properties being converted into second homes or holiday lets outstripping new builds. The report says that with no-one at home to spend money, second homes take potential revenue from the area. In a separate development last night, the threat of legal action delayed a decision on whether to approve five new, “affordable” homes in the village of Bainbridge, near Askrigg. Solicitors said residents had not been properly consulted on plans for the houses, in a field behind the Rose and Crown pub. Coun Robert Heseltine, who sits on the National Park Authority, said after a decision on the homes was deferred: “The legal threat by some local residents serves only to highlight how difficult it is to get new houses built.”