Tens of thousands of second-home owners who falsely register their properties as holiday lets in order to claim tax breaks tax face a clampdown by the taxman.

David Byers, Graeme Paton, www.thetimes.co.uk 

HMRC will tighten rules to force holiday landlords to prove they have made a realistic effort to rent properties out for at least 140 days per year. There are suspicions that many simply declare that they will do this but leave the properties empty.

Declaring a home to be a holiday let means that it is exempt from council tax and owners pay business rates instead. A total of 60,000 properties are registered in this way. However, HMRC says that 57,600 of these properties — or 96 per cent — have been declared as having a rateable value of £12,000 or less, which means they are also exempt from business rates.

In effect, this means that they are getting their rubbish collected and other services provided for free.

In addition, Treasury officials say that some of these owners may have milked the system further by claiming coronavirus support grants of up to £9,000 each to replace lost income; officials suspect that they would never have achieved this income because they had no intention of letting their properties out.

A Treasury source said: “At the moment, the criteria says that all you need to do is say that a property will be rented out for 140 days per year, but someone can say that and not actually be letting the property out.

“Clearly, some will also have claimed coronavirus support but we don’t know how many. We are going to force people to account for the claims they make.”

The Treasury was said to be increasingly concerned about a widespread tax dodge because the number of properties registered as holiday lets has gone up from 47,000 to 60,000 in three years. It will publish full details of the clampdown, and the penalties home-owners face, in the coming weeks.

The announcement made up part of a tranche of Treasury statements and consultation documents to mark what the department has dubbed “tax day”, although they did not declare any new proposals to raise personal taxation.

Nimesh Shah, chief executive of Blick Rothenberg, the accountancy firm, said that the number of coronavirus grant applications would have piqued HMRC’s interest. “I wonder if this measure was brought home by the number of claims that were made,” he said.

Chris Etherington, a partner at RSM, said: “It seems some taxpayers have been taking advantage of the government’s generosity to date. The announcements made today help to ensure that relief from council tax and business rates are targeted at the appropriate recipients — namely those with furnished holiday lets who are genuinely trying to be entrepreneurial and run a business. It’s a sensible step to try and stop a small minority claiming relief when they shouldn’t and welcome news for local authorities who will have a boost to their revenues.”

The Treasury also said that air passenger duty (APD) could rise for flights to far-flung destinations such as Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

From April, APD will stand at £13 for economy class short-haul flights, rising to £82 for long-haul travel, which typically includes all destinations outside Europe and North Africa.

However, in a consultation document published today, the Treasury said that it was considering creating a new band for the longest flights — those of 5,500 miles-plus — along with a cheaper rate for UK domestic journeys.

It said that this would “better support the government’s environmental objectives by strengthening the principle that those that fly further incur a higher rate of APD”.

It suggested that the current broad bands failed to properly recognise the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) released from different flights. A flight from London to Perth releases about 50 per cent more CO₂ than the journey from London to New York, although APD is charged at the same rate.

The report indicated that a new band above the existing £82 rate would cover Mexico and some countries in South America including Peru, Chile and Argentina. In Africa, it would cover flights to South Africa, Mozambique and Madagascar. It would also cover large swathes of East Asia and Australasia, including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. The suggested new rate is not spelt out.

The consultation also confirmed plans, first raised this month, to cut the short-haul APD rate for domestic flights. It is likely that the existing £13 rate will be halved for flights taking off and landing in UK airports. This is intended to “level up” the economy and generate business for regional airports.

“Domestic air connectivity has an important role to play within this, particularly by linking those areas where road and rail alternatives are not available or take a long time,” it said. The consultation runs until June 15.

Ramp to go in front of ‘Sideshore’ centre

A new access point from the Esplanade to the beach is to be built in Exmouth.

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk 

The £175,000 ramp is being provided by Grenadier, the Exeter firm behind the watersports and retail complex on the seafront which is called Sideshore.

Sideshore ramp (courtesy: Grenadier)

Made from a mixture of sustainable FSC-certified timber, concrete, and steel, the ramp will enable people to reach the beach step-free, allowing visitors with limited mobility or those carrying sports equipment to access the beach safely and easily.

At three-metres wide and 25 meters long, the ramp will provide much-needed access to the beach for those who may currently struggle to use the staircases. Sideshore itself has disability access to ensure as many visitors to the centre as possible can access the new space safely. 

The sea in front of the watersports centre, though, is a dangerous stretch of water because of strong currents arising from both the sandbar off the shore and the proximity to the mouth of the Exe Estuary. East Devon District Council is responsible for the signs on the beach that warn of the danger, and claims they are of a sufficient legal standard to warn people of the dangers.

It means people who use the new ramp can access the beach safely, but will have to walk several hundred metres to reach safe bathing waters.

Construction of the ramp is scheduled to start on 4 May, and is expected to be completed before the end of June. The timing has been chosen so it doesn’t disturb migratory birds over-wintering in the local area.

Ross Bower, from EAD Ecology, said: “Although the site does not lie within any designated conservation areas, it does border them. The Exe Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) lies immediately adjacent to the boundary of Sideshore, and this area supports over-wintering birds of European importance, including the dark-bellied brent goose and oystercatcher.

“It is important that these birds are undisturbed from feeding and roosting, so the works have been timed to avoid the key winter period when they are present on the estuary, ready for their return in the autumn.”

Grenadier has worked with Teignmouth Maritime Services to minimise disruption to the local wildlife and visitors to the beach. During the works, a small, contained area of the beach and walkway will be separated from the public with access to the beach still permitted via the existing staircases. The cycle route beside the beach promenade will be redirected around the back of Sideshore, and pedestrians will be provided direct access across the promenade through Sideshore, safely away from construction.

Aiden Johnson-Hugill, property director of Grenadier, said: “ A vibro-piling technique will be used which will reduce noise, ensure ample support for the foundations, and be much quicker compared with conventional methods. Almost one third of the ramp will be constructed under the current sand levels, reinforcing its strength and durability.”

Finding a solution to ensure adequate durability in a marine environment is challenging and would normally require the use of non-sustainable tropical hardwoods. Grenadier, who pride themselves on being a sustainable developer, have instead responsibly sourced FSC-certified timber to line the edges of the ramp and the handrails, which will be supported by concrete panels and a steel frame to provide a robust structure.

More deaths in care homes from Covid-19 have occurred in Devon and Cornwall in the first ten weeks of 2021 than in the whole of 2020.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that up to March 12, there have been 332 deaths in care homes this year in Devon and Cornwall, compared to 315 in the whole of 2020.

Cornwall, the South Hams, and Teignbridge have seen more deaths in total from Covid-19 in 2021 than 2020.

But a year on from Lockdown 1, the lowest number of weekly deaths relating to coronavirus across Devon and Cornwall has been recorded since the start of November.

And across the South West, the total number of deaths from all causes is 8.4 per cent below the five year average for deaths.

The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which relate to the week of March 6 to March 12, but registered up to March 20, show that 12 of the 316 deaths registered in the two counties had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.

It is the lowest total for 18 weeks – and the lowest for 20 weeks for just deaths in hospitals.

The figures included three deaths that have occurred at Holmesley Care Home in Sidford – where seven deaths have occurred – although the other four are believed to have occurred later than March 12 and thus are not included in this dataset.

Of the 12 deaths registered in week 10 (March 6-12), there were six deaths of people from Cornwall (one care home, five hospital), three in East Devon (all care home), one care home death in Plymouth and Mid Devon, and one hospital death in Exeter.

No deaths in the Isles of Scilly, Torbay, Teignbridge Torridge (for the 2 ^nd week running), the South Hams (for the 3 ^rd week running), West Devon (for the 4 ^th week running) and North Devon (for the 5 ^th week running) were registered.

6 of the deaths occurred in care homes, with 6 in hospital.

A further three deaths from week 9 (one in Cornwall, East Devon and Exeter, all in care homes), and one death from week 8 (in a care home in Plymouth) have been added into the figure this week –

Previous weeks have seen 21, 43, 47, 84, 99, 146, 152, 78, 55, 32, 46, 48, 52, 43, 43, 37, 24, 11, 13, 15, 6, 5, 2, 0, 3, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 5, 1, 7, 10, 11, 15, 38, 44, 70, 85, 107, 90, 60, 16 and nine deaths registered.

In total, 1,703 deaths from coronavirus have been registered across Devon and Cornwall, with 937 in hospitals, 647 in care homes, 108 at home, four in a hospice, three in a communal establishment and four ‘elsewhere’.

Other communal establishments, as defined by the ONS, include defence bases, educational premises, prisons (including probation/bail hostel, prisons, detention centres and other detention), hotels, hostels, travel and temporary accommodation (including B&Bs, temporary shelter for homeless and holiday parks), and religious premises.

The ONS define elsewhere as all places not covered by the other definitions, such as deaths on a motorway, at the beach, climbing a mountain, walking down the street, at the cinema, at a football match, while out shopping or in someone else’s home.

Of the deaths, 563 have been registered in Cornwall, 230 in Plymouth, 200 in East Devon, 165 in Torbay, 127 in Teignbridge, 126 in Exeter, 81 in Mid Devon, 70 in North Devon, 54 in Torridge, 50 in the South Hams, 37 in West Devon, and none on the Isles of Scilly.

So far in 2021, there have been 301 deaths in Cornwall, 91 in Plymouth, 76 in East Devon, 67 in Teignbridge, 56 in Torbay, 53 in Exeter, 33 in Mid Devon, 26 in South Hams, 14 in North Devon, 13 in Torridge and 9 in West Devon.

The figures show in which local authority the deceased’s usual place of residence was. For instance, if someone may have died in Derriford Hospital but lived in West Devon, while the death may have been registered in Plymouth, their death would be recorded in the mortality statistics for the ONS figures against West Devon.

Deaths that have since March 12 will be recorded in next week’s figures, as long as the deceased lived within Devon and Cornwall, the death has been registered, and Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

[More detailed tabulation of the data can be found on the Devonlive website – Owl]