Councillor Connett to move:
Devon County Council calls on the Government to:
1. End the tax dodge loop-hole of second home owners switching from Council Tax to Business Rates and then claiming ‘small business’ exemption, so they pay nothing at all.
2. To re-extend the notice period given to tenants to 6 months
3. Maintain the Local Housing Allowances at Covid-levels (plus cost-of-living increases) to support families into homes
and that the County Council will:
1. Work with Devon's District, City and Borough councils to establish a 'housing taskforce' working across the county to tackle the flight to Air BnB and holiday rentals
2. Support the provision of urgently needed rented housing on County owned land
Council welcomes the research undertaken by property agents Colliers and published in August 2021, which confirms:
Local authorities are losing out on millions of pounds of council tax income because the Government’s business rates system is still giving many holiday home and second home owners the opportunity to avoid paying the tax, provided they make their properties available to rent. This situation has been made even worse by the pandemic.
Colliers estimates the total loss to local authorities from business rates relief for holiday lets in England and Wales alone is currently around £110 million a year - a significant sum that could certainly help bridge the gap in local authority finances, now suffering because of the pandemic.
Property owners who make their properties available to rent as holiday lets for 140 days of the year can claim they are a small business and as such can elect to pay business rates instead of council tax.
However, as small businesses they can claim for relief on 100% of the business rates payable if their properties have a rateable value of less than £12,000. Those properties with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 are also entitled to a relief on a sliding scale in line with the Government’s business rates relief policy.
Colliers has analysed the rating lists for the South West of England (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset) where 9,600 new properties, claiming 100% business rates relief have entered the list in the last four years- an 82 % increase since the start of the 2017 Ratings List.
According to Colliers’ estimates this flip from the council tax to the business rates list is costing the local councils an extra £16 million a year in council tax income. The South West now has 21,312 properties in the rating list that are eligible for 100% business rates relief and Colliers has estimated that if these properties at least paid council tax the local councils would benefit by £35.5 million a year!
Council also notes that the Office for National Statistics has reported:
The number of households living in the private rented sector in the UK increased from 2.8 million in 2007 to 4.5 million in 2017, an increase of 1.7 million (63%).
Over this period, the number of owner occupier households remained broadly consistent at 17.7 million households.
However, households owned outright increased from 7.9 million to 9.4 million while households buying with a mortgage fell from 9.8 million to 8.3 million.
The number of social rented households decreased by 200,000 households to 4.5 million.
Younger households are more likely to rent privately, with those in the 25 to 34 years age group representing the largest group.
Households in the 45 to 54 years age group saw the biggest percentage increase from 11% in 2007 to 16% in 2017, an estimated increase of 384,000 households.
Council welcomed the protection for tenants but is concerned about a rise in evictions
Due to Government action during the Covid pandemic, thousands of private sector tenants were protected from homelessness by the national ban on evictions.
However, that protective shield was removed on 31 May this year and, in addition, the notice period that a landlord must give a tenant was cut from six to four months
Citizens Advice said there’s been a 17 per cent increase in people with issues about being evicted from their private rented accommodation, comparing the first four months of this year with the same period a year ago.
It said there’s also been a 36 per cent increase in the number of people seeking help with all types of problems in the rental sector.
Private rented homes are like Hens teeth...
In Devon, we are seeing a dramatic shift in the availability of private rented homes.
In North Devon, the Reach Plc news organisation, reported on 8 August that there are 2000 residents looking for social housing on Devon HomeChoice but only 20 residential properties available for rent via Rightmove. In Teignbridge, there are 1000 applicants on the Devon HomeChoice register, a search of Rightmove on 9 August showed 5 rental properties available in Newton Abbot, 7 in Dawlish, 1 in Teignmouth, 1 in Ide, 1 in Bovey Tracey, 2 in Chudleigh and 1 each in Ashburton and Buckfastleigh with none in Exminster. In East Devon, there were 22 rental properties displayed on Righmove. Anecdotal evidence from other districts suggests this pattern of high demand and very low supply is repeated across Devon.
And this is an extract from an online search on 09 August 2021 for Air BnB properties for let in Devon
500+ Devon Holiday Cottages | House and Apartment ... - Airbnb
https://www.airbnb.co.uk › United Kingdom › England
Find the perfect self-catered holiday cottage for your trip to Devon. Houses with a kitchen and apartments with free parking await you on Airbnb.
Out-of-control’ dominance of rentals in some communities depriving locals of homes, critics say
· The Devon village changed by Airbnb
In England, the area with the highest rate of Airbnb lets was Woolacombe, Georgeham and Croyde, in Devon, with 23 listings for every 100 properties.
Decision:
In accordance with Standing Order 6(6) the Notice of Motion was referred, without discussion, to the Cabinet for consideration.
Minutes:
Councillor Connett MOVEDand Councillor Dewhirst SECONDED
Devon County Council calls on the Government to:
1. End the tax dodge loop-hole of second home owners switching from Council Tax to Business Rates and then claiming ‘small business’ exemption, so they pay nothing at all.
2. To re-extend the notice period given to tenants to 6 months
3. Maintain the Local Housing Allowances at Covid-levels (plus cost-of-living increases) to support families into homes
and that the County Council will:
1. Work with Devon's District, City and Borough councils to establish a 'housing taskforce' working across the county to tackle the flight to Air BnB and holiday rentals
2. Support the provision of urgently needed rented housing on County owned land
Council welcomes the research undertaken by property agents Colliers and published in August 2021, which confirms:
Local authorities are losing out on millions of pounds of council tax income because the Government’s business rates system is still giving many holiday home and second home owners the opportunity to avoid paying the tax, provided they make their properties available to rent.
This situation has been made even worse by the pandemic.
Colliers estimates the total loss to local authorities from business rates relief for holiday lets in England and Wales alone is currently around£110 million a year - a significant sum that could certainly help bridge the gap in local authority finances, now suffering because of the pandemic.
Property owners who make their properties available to rent as holiday lets for 140 days of the year can claim they are a small business and as such can elect to pay business rates instead of council tax.
However, as small businesses they can claim for relief on 100% of the business rates payable if their properties have a rateable value of less than £12,000. Those properties with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 are also entitled to a relief on a sliding scale in line with the Government’s business rates relief policy.
Colliers has analysed the rating lists for the South West of England (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset) where 9,600 new properties, claiming 100% business rates relief have entered the list in the last four years- an 82 % increase since the start of the 2017 Ratings List.
According to Colliers’ estimates this flip from the council tax to the business rates list is costing the local councils an extra £16 million a year in council tax income. The South West now has 21,312 properties in the rating list that are eligible for 100% business rates relief and Colliers has estimated that if these properties at least paid council tax the local councils would benefit by £35.5 million a year!
Council also notes that the Office for National Statistics has reported:
The number of households living in the private rented sector in the UK increased from 2.8 million in 2007 to 4.5 million in 2017, an increase of 1.7 million (63%).
Over this period, the number of owner occupier households remained broadly consistent at 17.7 million households.
However, households owned outright increased from 7.9 million to 9.4 million while households buying with a mortgage fell from 9.8 million to 8.3 million.
The number of social rented households decreased by 200,000 households to 4.5 million.
Younger households are more likely to rent privately, with those in the 25 to 34 years age group representing the largest group.
Households in the 45 to 54 years age group saw the biggest percentage increase from 11% in 2007 to 16% in 2017, an estimated increase of 384,000 households.
Council welcomed the protection for tenants but is concerned about a rise in evictions
Due to Government action during the Covid pandemic, thousands of private sector tenants were protected from homelessness by the national ban on evictions.
However, that protective shield was removed on 31 May this year and, in addition, the notice period that a landlord must give a tenant was cut from six to four months
Citizens Advice said there’s been a17 per cent increase in people with issues about being evicted from their private rented accommodation, comparing the first four months of this year with the same period a year ago.
It said there’s also been a36 per cent increase in the number of people seeking help with all types of problems in the rental sector.
Private rented homes are like Hens teeth...
In Devon, we are seeing a dramatic shift in the availability of private rented homes.
In North Devon, the Reach Plc news organisation, reported on 8 August that there are 2000 residents looking for social housing on Devon HomeChoice but only 20 residential properties available for rent via Rightmove. In Teignbridge, there are 1000 applicants on the Devon HomeChoice register, a search of Rightmove on 9 August showed 5 rental properties available in Newton Abbot, 7 in Dawlish, 1 in Teignmouth, 1 in Ide, 1 in Bovey Tracey, 2 in Chudleigh and 1 each in Ashburton and Buckfastleigh with none in Exminster. In East Devon, there were 22 rental properties displayed on Rightmove. Anecdotal evidence from other districts suggests this pattern of high demand and very low supply is repeated across Devon.
And this is an extract from an online search on 09 August 2021 for Air BnB properties for let in Devon
500+ Devon Holiday Cottages | House and Apartment ... - Airbnb
https://www.airbnb.co.uk › United Kingdom › England
Find the perfect self-catered holiday cottage for your trip toDevon. Houses with a kitchen and apartments with free parking await you on Airbnb.
· The Devon village changed by Airbnb
In England, the area with the highest rate of Airbnb lets was Woolacombe, Georgeham and Croyde, in Devon, with 23 listings for every 100 properties.
In accordance with Standing Order 6(6) the Notice of Motion was referred, without discussion, to the Cabinet for consideration.