Dorset second homeowners likely to try avoiding extra council tax bills
Councillors have discussed plans to charge double for holiday homes
Second home owners in Dorset are likely do to all they can to avoid paying double council tax - according to local councillors.
The proposal from the government could be adopted in Dorset.
But its claimed many could sell their properties or register them as businesses and let them through agents - to avoid paying extra tax to Dorset Council.
The proposal, from the Government, as part of 'levelling up' plans, has come in for criticism from Dorset councillors.
If the scheme went ahead, it could bring an extra £9.5million for the local authority from the 5,700 second homes in the county.
Deputy council leader Cllr Peter Wharf told a meeting that he doubts if the full amount will ever be collected because many owners will employ lawyers and accountants to legally find ways of avoiding the doubling of the tax.
He also warned that while the extra revenue might be welcomed by local council taxpayers and Dorset Council it could lead to unexpected consequences which might not be so welcome.
Cllr Sherry Jespersen said that while there were second home owners do contribute to local life, many do not.
She said that all the local statistics spoke of a housing gap – with 3,700 people on the Dorset housing register in need of a home and 2,000 waiting to be assessed.
She said there are currently 235 households in temporary accommodation and 92 in bed and breakfast, paid for by Dorset Council, with house prices in the county now at eleven times average local wages:
“To have a second home in Dorset when so many have none is a privilege…it’s reasonable that we should ask people to pay a little more for that privilege. We are not banning second homes and we are not telling people they can’t have a second home, all we are asking is that they pay a little more for it."
A council report says that an additional £1.1m could come from levying the higher tax rate on empty homes after one year, rather than two.
A final decision of whether or not to adopt the changes locally, should they be approved in time by the Government, will first go to a Cabinet meeting on February 28th and then to a Full Council meeting at the end of March, which has been brought forward from April so the proposed introduction of the premium isn’t delayed beyond 2024.