Doubling council tax on second homes in Cornwall moves closer

Owners of second homes in Cornwall would be charged double council tax on them under a proposal to give the local authority more power to raise income.

People who leave their properties empty for one year or more would also be hit with a 100% premium on their bill.

The recommendations would tighten Cornwall Council's existing rules and councillors agreed to the change in principle on Tuesday.

A councillor also proposed asking the government if they could charge triple.

Currently, the council can only charge a premium on homes that have been empty for two years or more.

It also charges a 200% premium on homes left empty for more than five years and 300% for those empty for more than 10 years.

On Tuesday, the authority's scrutiny committee gave in-principle agreement to the new charges, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A report to the committee estimated doubling the rates could generate an additional £27m in revenue for the authority.

A bill giving local councils additional powers to tackle second homes is expected to be made law in time for the charges to be applied from April 2024.

Independent councillor Julian German proposed an additional recommendation to the committee that the leader of the council should write to the secretary of state asking for the right to raise council tax on second homes to triple the normal rate.

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 and holiday lets are blamed for an affordability crisis in Cornwall after falling stocks of rented housing caused rents to rise sharply.

Homelessness charity St Petroc's said last week "thousands" of local people were at "breaking point".

Residents in the tourist hotspot of St Ives previously voted to take action against second home ownership by banning new-build second homes.

"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.

Once approved by the scrutiny committee, the cabinet will need to vote on the proposed changes before a formal resolution goes to a vote of the full council.

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