Planning permission needed to use a residence as a holiday home or let

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

House prices in a county where the council has introduced measures to crack down on second homes have fallen by more than 12% year-on-year, according to new figures.

The local authority in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, recently introduced a requirement to obtain planning permission to turn residential properties into second homes or holiday lets.

It is also one of a number of Welsh councils which charges a 150% council tax premium on such properties, having upped this from 100% in 2023.

The council, Cyngor Gwynedd, said its aim was to "increase the availability of high-quality, affordable homes for local people".

I understand the motivations - but is it going to also reduce the number of visitors and have a net negative effect on the economy of the area?

The news is from Wales - should similar action be taken in Cornwall and / or Devon?   Would extra taxes to put off a glut of tourists results in antagonism toward those who still came, and result is resentment at extra charges and higher prices levied on the grockles?  Would a drop in tourist make in more difficult to sustain a good public transport network in what is primarily  tourist areas?  Would it leave space on the trains (even IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train)) for surfboards to Newquay?

[ChrisB]

Second homes aren't used by tourists....these should need planning permission & frankly 500% council tax wouldn't be too much.

Holiday lets are a different proposition. planning permission to prevent long-term occupation & holiday lets only to a max of say, 3 weeks at a time.

[johnneyw]

Second homes aren't used by tourists....these should need planning permission & frankly 500% council tax wouldn't be too much.

500% would certainly be the final nail in the coffin for the family house that we have cherished for half a century.  I am happy to pay the forthcoming the 200% rate until I'm in a position to make it our main home again.

[Ralph Ayres]

All very well pricing out second home-owners, but would a local move in or would it just stay empty as lack of local employment means no-one needs to live there anyway?  Holiday lets are a bit different.  Arguably holidaymakers bring in more income to the area than a permanent resident would spend each week, plus there's employment for cleaners, tradespeople etc (in my experience they're generally maintained to a higher standard than a family home so provide regular work, and often that work will be off-season).  I've also often felt that the holiday homes I've stayed in are no longer realistic for living in permanently; a bijou (or if you're not a letting agent, cramped) cottage with little storage space, hidden up a steep narrow alley with parking 5 minutes walk away and few local services is fine for a week but many aspects would become less appealing over time.

All part of a bigger and complicated picture that I doubt will ever be fully addressed.

[CyclingSid]

I see in today's i-newspaper that one of the Welsh councils has a 150% council tax surcharge on holiday homes and letss. It is in the paper because of a 17% fall in house prices. Might be good for locals trying to get on the housing ladder, not so good for current owners.

[LiskeardRich]

I’m in support of tourist tax as long as the proceeds are used correctly and potentially reduce locals council tax bills.

We pay it abroad a few euros a night without complaint, so why not charge it here too

[TaplowGreen]

Our company solicitor bought a property near St Ives some years ago to use as a second home and still regularly (however less so now that he's been around a while, and spends roughly 50% of his time there) gets the (mostly lighthearted but with a bit of an edge) "bloody incomer" abuse from some of the locals.

He has pointed out that he was only be able to become an "incomer" because a local was happy to sell the house to him at an enormous profit, rather than accepting a much lower offer from one of the natives.

The Cornish tend to go a bit quiet when you mention that they have a choice over who they sell their houses to.

[LiskeardRich]

Our company solicitor bought a property near St Ives some years ago to use as a second home and still regularly (however less so now that he's been around a while, and spends roughly 50% of his time there) gets the (mostly lighthearted but with a bit of an edge) "bloody incomer" abuse from some of the locals.

He has pointed out that he was only be able to become an "incomer" because a local was happy to sell the house to him at an enormous profit, rather than accepting a much lower offer from one of the natives.

The Cornish tend to go a bit quiet when you mention that they have a choice over who they sell their houses to.

They also seem to forget that many more of us would be without work if we didn’t have our Tourists. A poor 2024 for tourists has seen several attractions closed for 2025 including the Lands open top buses.

[ChrisB]

Hmmm. Second home owners do not act like tourists..

[eightonedee]

Hmmm. Second home owners do not act like tourists.

But - they will spend money in the local economy. I have no idea how the expenditure of the one matches the expenditure of the other. I'd guess they spend more overall out of the peak season, less by way of weekly paid employment (possibly mostly only on part-timers to check and clean their houses), but more by way of local tradesmen in repairing and maintaining their houses. They are (I'd guess) more likely to spend more when they eat out, but not eat out so often. They are also a source of custom for local attractions.

[ChrisB]

No more than if it were a home for a local (family)

[RailCornwall]

Notwithstanding the issue that I think this post would be better elsewhere, people need to be careful. With the elimination of the C2, D and E attractions, Flambards, Dairyland and Open top buses, tourism revenue from every available resource including those using Holiday homes and Lets must not be restricted. Cornwall needs the income, and I dismiss summarily the argument that it doesn't stay in the Duchy, from all sources. It needs to cultivate upper quartile tourism greatly going forwards. Further taxation won't help this.

[eightonedee]

No more than if it were a home for a local (family)

But that's just the problem - if there's a demand for affordable housing, it should be provided in new-purpose built housing under the planning regime, funded if required in whole or part by the public purse. It's a problem we simply have not addressed adequately in our society.

[grahame]

No more than if it were a home for a local (family)

But that's just the problem - if there's a demand for affordable housing, it should be provided in new-purpose built housing under the planning regime, funded if required in whole or part by the public purse. It's a problem we simply have not addressed adequately in our society.

Correct - even here in Wiltshire where we have a lower proportion of holiday homes and Melksham where I don't know of any (there are some lets), we have planning analysis in what's needed in new housing build and it includes a heavy propotion of "affordable" housing - though people laugh at the word "affordable".    Which does not totally deal with the problem ... and in any case there is still a housing shortage.

[REVUpminster]

Torbay is always in trouble over land supply in not having enough yet they have many sites, some brownfield, where no work has started and the big builders don't seem to want to build more than 150 houses a year to maintain prices and not create a glut. If councils did build more houses then builders will start pulling out or charge more to build them for the council.

Also down here many homes on these new estates seem to be bought by local authorities in the north and moving people down here so that does not help house the locals. I don't know if this is happening in more inland areas. It is a reflection of problems in seaside towns with bed and breakfast accommodation being used by outside local authorities
to house their homeless.

Torquay has some of the most expensive properties in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) up there with Sandbanks and Salcombe, and also some of the most poorest.

Just a rant as housing supply is never going to keep up with the relentless population rise.