Northumberland residents set up petition to 'ring fence' additional council tax from second homes

A petition has been set up by residents on the Northumberland coast calling for income from additional council tax on second homes to be ring-fenced.

Northumberland County Council have announced that they will double the council tax charge for second homes from 1st April 2025.

Residents would like the extra cash to be spent on coastal villages and not disappear into central funds.

Jennifer Hall who set up the petition said: "similar to lots of other villages and towns around the country, we have issues with a high level of second and holiday homes.

"We have one of the highest in the country with 73% of all our housing is either a second or holiday home."

The Beadnell resident also told us that it could help with many challenges.

She said: "our businesses are crying out for workers.

"There are thousands of empty jobs and people travelling from Newcastle 50 miles away or Berwick 25 miles away."

"The whole community would like to see more affordable homes. This is the second petition we had in this area.

"Apart from developers building affordable housing as a result of large developers, there's really been no progress."

Northumbria County Council told us they are aware of the petition and that it will be considered by the council in due course.

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