Second home owners in Cornwall are set to be charged twice the normal rate of council tax under a proposal to give the local authority more powers to raise income from out-of-towners.

Will Humphries, Southwest Correspondent www.thetimes.co.uk

Councils would also be given powers to charge a 100 per cent council tax premium on people who leave their properties empty for one year or more.

Cornwall council’s scrutiny committee agreed in principle to the doubling of charges for both categories on Tuesday, and that the leader of the council should write to the secretary of state asking that all English local authorities should have the ability to raise council tax on second homes even to three times the normal rate.

The move followed a request by Julian German, an independent councillor and former leader of Cornwall council, who wants to bring England in line with Wales. The Welsh government introduced a law this year that allows local authorities to set council tax premiums of up to 300 per cent on second homes and long-empty properties.

German told The Times: “If the Westminster government wants to devolve the ability for councils to raise council tax on second homes then why put a cap on it at 100 per cent; why not trust local government to decide what is right for them, be that 150 per cent or 400 per cent?”

The proposals are subject to the government’s Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill receiving royal assent. The bill gives local authorities powers to double council tax on second homes and is expected to be made law in time to apply from April 2024.

North Yorkshire county council, which has the highest concentration of second homes in England, became the first English council last month to pass a measure committing itself to doubling council tax bills on second homes.

At present Cornwall can double council tax only on homes that have been empty for two years or more.

It charges a 200 per cent premium on homes left empty for more than five years and 300 per cent for those empty for more than ten years.

A report to the committee estimated that doubling the rates of council tax on all second homes could generate an extra £27 million in revenue for the authority. According to the report, there are more than 13,000 properties in Cornwall classed as second homes on the council tax system — one of the highest levels in the country.

“Second home ownership within Cornwall is significant and is recognised to have a negative impact in terms of the supply of homes available to meet local housing need,” the report said.

It said data shows 722 properties are being charged a 100 per cent premium for being empty for more than two years, generating £854,000.

Second homes and holiday lets are blamed for an affordability crisis in Cornwall after falling stocks of housing to let led to a sharp rise in rents.

Locals have been upset over recent years by prominent second home owners, including the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay who came down from London to spend much of lockdown at his second home on the coast.

St Petroc’s, a homelessness charity, said last week that “thousands” of local people were at “breaking point”. The council’s cabinet must vote on the proposal before a formal resolution goes to a vote of the full council.

The people of Salcombe, the Devon seaside town known as “Chelsea-on-Sea” for its wealthy visitors, became so worried about second home owners buying prime properties that they have enacted the strictest code against out of towners in the country.

South Hams district council has made it a legal requirement that all new-build homes must be sold with a Section 106 agreement stating they will be a principal residence in perpetuity.

Several other seaside towns, including St Ives, have introduced rules for new properties to be sold as principal residences but none has dictated that all should remain a principal residence.

 

Everyone is hard up at the moment – including the Conservative party, it seems. According to Bloomberg’s Alex Wickham, the party is raising membership fees by 56%.

Ben Bradshaw www.devonlive.com 

“I must be the only person in the country never to have watched “I’m a Celebrity” and I didn’t make an exception just because disgraced ex Health Secretary, Matt Hancock was on. Mr Hancock has now used his elevated public profile to defend his role during the Covid pandemic before the official public inquiry into it has begun.

His “Covid Diaries”, serialised in the Government-supporting Daily Mail, appear to blame everyone else for the serious errors made during the pandemic. The terrible death toll in care homes was the fault of care staff who infected patients, he claims, rather than the well documented practice of hospitals discharging infected patients to care homes, despite Ministers being warned repeatedly of the consequences of this.

The former Health Secretary says that the Conservative Peer, Baroness Mone, who is being investigated over multi-million-pound contracts for PPE that turned out to be faulty, “bullied” him into putting her company in the VIP lane for contracts during the pandemic. I thought Mr Hancock had managed to convince people he was a “toughie” during his “jungle ordeal”, yet he couldn’t stand up to the unreasonable demands of a lingerie millionairess to whom we must assume he owed nothing.

When a young constituent asked me last week if I would go on “celebrity TV”, he seemed disappointed when I said no. Indeed, I have said no, partly because it would be demeaning, but also because I have the old-fashioned view that an MP’s job is to serve their constituents.

It was against this sorry backdrop that ex-Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, published a major report on the future of Britain this week addressing the constitution, devolution and standards in public life. None of these in themselves is likely to be the hot topic of discussion for most people as they face a multitude of challenges this winter, but they are a serious attempt by a serious politician to provide some of the answers as to why Britain is failing and how to restore trust in politics.

Among the recommendations are reform of the House of Lords, banning MPs from taking most second jobs, independent enforcement of the ministerial code and eliminating foreign money from UK politics. No more Matt Hancock’s, Lady Mones’ or Russian money in Conservative coffers, just conscientious legislators doing their best.

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, is pledging to implement most, if not all, of these recommendations as essential for the “rewiring” of our democratic system and politics if Britain is to be governed better. I won’t be around to help get such a programme through, if Labour wins the next election, but I wish my Party well and believe these reforms will contribute to making us a better and more successful country.

That change could start now if Rishi Sunak filled the vacant post of the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ethics and gave them the powers that the Independent Commission on Standards in Public Life has called for. What is stopping him?

Simon Jupp criticises EDDC local plan proposals, now out for consultation, as being unimaginative by proposing to “dump” the majority of new development in the west quarter of the district. (See below)

“Councillors should not be allowing historic towns and villages to merge into one another, nor allow homes to be built without adequate infrastructure in place first.” He says.

But isn’t this what Cllr Phil Skinner, current Leader of the Conservative minority group in East Devon, advocated in 2019 when he said this about a proposed network of linked villages: “I am bang up for seeing this come forward in the right way.” …?

Result of 25 years of Tory “Build, build, build”

The fact is that it’s the legacy of Tory development policies over a quarter of a century in EDDC coupled with the Tory government housing targets that have left the current Council facing options, none of which are attractive. Most of East Devon outside the AONB has already been over-developed.

In the past twenty years, the local Tories have:

1. “Persuaded” the residents, through an opaque process under the leadership of Sara Randall Johnson followed by Paul Diviani, to accept the new town of Cranbrook, built on grade 1 agricultural land.  It started by aiming for a population of 2,900 in 2012 and is now projected to reach 22,000 eventually, swallowing up nearby rural villages in the process. It was claimed at the time to relieve future development pressures;
2. Produced a local plan 2013 to 2031 (adopted in 2016) based on an aggressive jobs led, “policy on” growth scenario requiring more than three times the number of houses needed to satisfy demographic and historic growth trends; 
3. and were enthusiastic supporters of the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP) seeing it as an opportunity to use the green fields of East Devon to ease Exeter’s chronic inability to find a five year land supply. One of the main GESP enthusiasts is none other than the current leader of Tories in EDDC, Cllr Phil Skinner. Those who voted to stay in the GESP can be found here. Not a single Conservative voted to leave GESP!

Who set the ground rules that EDDC have to follow in their plan?

The government you claim to be a small part of, Simon.

Right now these policies are in a state of flux because the housing requirements they impose on District Councils, like EDDC, result in just the sort of proposals you are criticising. These requirements bear little relationship to local need. I.e “to help people stay in their own communities, reduce travel to help the environment, or keep families close together” (To quote a phrase of yours).

Yet Owl cannot find any evidence that you were among the 60 rebels that have forced this U-turn on Michael Gove and the PM.

It is too early to tell what this U-turn will mean in practice but it should give EDDC an opportunity to establish the genuine local need.

This opinion article of yours looks like humbug to Owl.

Maybe you could help by working constructively with the elected Council as the MP for Tiverton and Honiton does for his constituents? 

New homes need to be built in the right places 

Simon Jupp www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

East Devon is a great place to live, work and explore. Naturally, we want our children and grandchildren to feel like they can lay down their roots here, too.

Homes to buy and for long-term rent are increasingly out of reach for people who grew up here or who work locally – including for key workers in the NHS, social care or schools.

Home ownership needs to be a reality for a new generation. That will only come about by ensuring homes are built in the right places.

Sadly, East Devon District Council’s new Local Plan is woefully unimaginative. It dumps 9,000 new homes in the far west of the district – stretching from Cranbrook to Clyst St Mary and Exmouth. That is a lot more than the 2,500 planned for the rest of East Devon.

It is not a proper plan to help people stay in their own communities, reduce travel to help the environment, or keep families close together. It’s a missed opportunity.

Ministers want decisions about homes to be driven locally. The government sets targets, councils decide where houses are built. Councils do so by producing Local Plans which help decide on planning applications and other planning related decisions.

As an MP, I have no formal role or jurisdiction in the local planning process – but I will continue to hold East Devon District Council to account. After all, councillors decide how our district is designed for generations to come. It is really important to have your say, too.

Councillors should not be allowing historic towns and villages to merge into one another, nor allow homes to be built without adequate infrastructure in place first. I am acutely aware of the concern among residents in north Exmouth and Lympstone about the alarming volume of development proposed.

The government is introducing a new Infrastructure Levy to help ensure new homes are supported by appropriate infrastructure and services. However, we do need to get the right plan in place. Make sure you have your say on the East Devon local plan by visiting eastdevon.gov.uk. The consultation closes on Sunday, January 15th 2023.