Absenteeism Tax Considered
THE COMMISSION for Rural Communities has drawn up a range of options aimed to help revive local communities. In England the Affordable Rural Housing Commission and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are studying these, wrote Hamish MacDonnell in the Scotsman in mid April.
The Scottish Executive is also reviewing local government finance and a spokeswoman said nothing had been ruled out. These include stringent new proposals, possibly embracing :an “absenteeism” tax, doubling or tripling of council tax bills, and perhaps a new business tax on second homes.
A national register of second homes is also recommended to ensure no-one with more than one house is able to dodge paying the 40 per cent capital gains tax on the second property. |
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Over 30,000 people with second homes in Scotland could be facing these levies as Ministers have become increasingly concerned about the effect on small, rural communities of second homes and holiday homes. Some are left empty for six or eight months of the year, and there are so many holiday homes in some communities that they are all but deserted during the off-season and house values are so high that locals are priced out.
Both the government and the Executive have already moved once to penalise the owners of second homes, ending the 50 per cent council tax discount which they used to enjoy. But there is still a lack of affordable housing in many rural areas, and campaigners want more done. Because of the cross-Border market in second homes, it is unlikely that any new tax laws could be introduced in England without similar provision in Scotland.
The number of second and holiday homes in Scotland has more than tripled in 20 years. Nearly half of these properties are in remote rural Scotland - in some areas, one in eight houses is a second home. Second and holiday homes in Scotland account for 1.3 per cent of the total housing stock (2001 census) but the near-30,000 total is thought to have risen by as much as 7,000 in the past five years.
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