- cross-posted to:
- politics@sh.itjust.works
- cross-posted to:
- politics@sh.itjust.works
geteilt von: https://sh.itjust.works/post/38301389
To try to tackle this, the Welsh Labour government, alongside Plaid Cymru, introduced measures to curb second-home ownership. This included giving councils the ability to push council tax on second homes to 300% the usual rate. They also closed a loophole whereby second-home owners could register as a business in order to pay the much lower business rates.
Gwynedd council used these powers to hike council tax to 150% in April 2023. By the end of 2024, house prices had fallen by 12.4% as second-home owners tried to sell up. In Pembrokeshire, house prices fell by 8.9% after the council increased the council tax to 200% on second homes (though this was reduced to 150% recently).
The bands are why I’m saying “mostly” flat. There is a small amount of scaling, but it quickly hits a cap. If you have a mansion, you aren’t paying 1% of its value in tax annually.
kagis
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understand-how-council-tax-bands-are-assessed
In England, the top band’s ceiling is 320,000 pounds.
In Wales, 424,000 pounds.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/wales-68336.html
EDIT: The price used is, for Wales, from 2003, so it’s typically about half of the current market value, in fairness, but it still illustrates that the thing cuts off at a certain, fairly low level.
Ah got you sorry. I see your point. Thanks