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Second homes in Wales could face 300% council tax hikes

22 points by LinuxBender 5y ago

umeshunni 5y ago
If only it was possible to build new homes.
- thatguy0900 5y ago
  To some extent, a lot of other countries don't have the massive amount of perfectly suitable untapped land that the US has around every city
BizarroLand 5y ago
This is a good thing, I've been advocating that the taxes on single family homes that are not the primary residence of their owner should be taxed at extraordinary rates until there is no longer a housing crisis in the first world. Giving people over a year's head notice before the taxes triple is a nice thing to do, they have plenty of time to either adjust their budget so that they can continue to afford the luxury or to sell the home while prices are high and reap the rewards of their investment while making it easier for the locals to purchase homes for themselves.
nonrandomstring 5y ago
In the UK there's a so-called "housing crisis". Young people cannot afford to buy properties in their own towns. It's claimed by the mainstream media that there are not enough homes, so we need to build (low quality) "affordable housing" in green-belts, upon precarious flood-plains, over toxic landfills or "brown-belt" land and so on. Good news for "developers". This is is a pack of lies! The real problem is the number of second or third holiday homes sitting empty. So I welcome this and hope the model spreads to Cornwall, Scotland and elsewhere. That, and the imminent eviction of Russian oligarchs in London might bring a well overdue adjustment to the housing market over here.
- bennysomething 5y ago
  Any stats to back this up?
  - nonrandomstring 5y ago
    Absolutely none at all that I'd trust. I go by the lived experienece of hundreds upon hundreds of young people I meet through my work and hear their personal stories of disenfranchisement. That's good enough for me. But in case you were't aware of what is common knowledge in the UK a quick LMGTFY (search terms: UK housing crisis empty second homes) yields: https://nethouseprices.com/news/show/2154/britains-housing-crisis-causes-effects-and-solutions https://nethouseprices.com/news/show/2154/britains-housing-c... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/23/second-homes-uk-government-britain-housing-crisis https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/23/second... https://thelondonpress.uk/2022/02/16/number-of-empty-and-second-homes-in-north-and-east-london/ https://thelondonpress.uk/2022/02/16/number-of-empty-and-sec...
- earleybird 5y ago
  I expect these underutilized properties will end up rented out or some such other result of unintended consequences and in the end affordability will still not be in reach for some. Homeostasis doesn't always come easily.

22 points by LinuxBender 5y ago

umeshunni 5y ago

If only it was possible to build new homes.

thatguy0900 5y ago
To some extent, a lot of other countries don't have the massive amount of perfectly suitable untapped land that the US has around every city

BizarroLand 5y ago

This is a good thing, I've been advocating that the taxes on single family homes that are not the primary residence of their owner should be taxed at extraordinary rates until there is no longer a housing crisis in the first world. Giving people over a year's head notice before the taxes triple is a nice thing to do, they have plenty of time to either adjust their budget so that they can continue to afford the luxury or to sell the home while prices are high and reap the rewards of their investment while making it easier for the locals to purchase homes for themselves.

nonrandomstring 5y ago

In the UK there's a so-called "housing crisis". Young people cannot afford to buy properties in their own towns. It's claimed by the mainstream media that there are not enough homes, so we need to build (low quality) "affordable housing" in green-belts, upon precarious flood-plains, over toxic landfills or "brown-belt" land and so on. Good news for "developers". This is is a pack of lies! The real problem is the number of second or third holiday homes sitting empty. So I welcome this and hope the model spreads to Cornwall, Scotland and elsewhere. That, and the imminent eviction of Russian oligarchs in London might bring a well overdue adjustment to the housing market over here.

bennysomething 5y ago
Any stats to back this up?
- nonrandomstring 5y ago
  Absolutely none at all that I'd trust. I go by the lived experienece of hundreds upon hundreds of young people I meet through my work and hear their personal stories of disenfranchisement. That's good enough for me. But in case you were't aware of what is common knowledge in the UK a quick LMGTFY (search terms: UK housing crisis empty second homes) yields: https://nethouseprices.com/news/show/2154/britains-housing-crisis-causes-effects-and-solutions https://nethouseprices.com/news/show/2154/britains-housing-c... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/23/second-homes-uk-government-britain-housing-crisis https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/23/second... https://thelondonpress.uk/2022/02/16/number-of-empty-and-second-homes-in-north-and-east-london/ https://thelondonpress.uk/2022/02/16/number-of-empty-and-sec...
earleybird 5y ago
I expect these underutilized properties will end up rented out or some such other result of unintended consequences and in the end affordability will still not be in reach for some. Homeostasis doesn't always come easily.