General Discussion
YIPPEE!
Here is something for you all to get your teeth into and maybe, just maybe some songs of praise.
Solicitors charge high fees, especially in pastures remote from dear old sunny Devon. Yet research can show that many of those proffessional people have the very holiday homes/second homes that has driven up the prices of houses in our region, that make them unaffordable to the locals.
In my negative equity article, I have sounded out warnings, I do not need a pat on the back thanx.
SECOND-HOME owners face a £20 million tax bill after Alistair Darling announced he will scrap perks offered to people who rent out rural retreats or cottages by the coast.
Experts said the removal of tax breaks from April next year would make it less attractive for people to let second homes to tourists.
It raises the prospect of a flood of house sales in some of the most sought-after parts of the Westcountry if people are unable to meet the running costs themselves.
But it could also mean fewer holiday lets on offer in the Westcountry if landlords can afford the house for only their own use a few times a year.
Campaigners who have warned of the impact on rural villages of properties standing empty for much of the year said they were "shocked" the tax reliefs were ever on offer.
%3Cbody%3E%3Cdiv%20id%3D%22adDiv%22%3E%3CA%20HREF%3D%22http%3A//ads.anm.co.uk/ADCLICK/CID%3D0000b139bb3f965200000000/AAMSZ%3D452x118/POS%3D/SITE%3DTHISISDEVO/AREA%3DNEWS/SUBAREA%3DNEWS/ARTICLE%3D933287/acc_random%3D357519850/pageid%3D/RS%3D%22%20target%3D%22_new%22%3E%3CIMG%20SRC%3D%22http%3A//iad.anm.co.uk/house/1x1.gif%22%20ALT%3D%22Click%20here%21%22%20border%3D0%20style%3D%22margin-bottom%3A%200px%3B%22%3E%3C/A%3E%3C/div%3ELast night, the Treasury said it expected the move to hit wealthy individuals with second homes rather than tourism businesses. However, some business groups claimed the change had the potential to harm the holiday industry.
Patrick Stevens, tax partner at Ernst & Young, said the move was likely to lead to a "modest" reduction in the number of prospective buyers of second homes.
Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor, who called for a crackdown on second homes in a report for Gordon Brown, said ministers should "go further" in restricting the spread of second homes into areas where local services like schools, pubs and village schools were struggling to survive.
But Simon Tregoning, who runs holiday cottage marketing agency Classic Holidays, warned: "The danger is that people will get out of the holiday let business and we will end up with more empty second homes."
The Country Land and Business Association condemned the move. CLA South West director John Mortimer branded it a "tax bombshell" which "could cost the UK tourist industry millions of pounds".
He said the major change should have been mentioned in Mr Darling's speech.
Buried in the Budget papers published on Wednesday were details of the move to repeal the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules. The rules allow the owners of some holiday lets in the UK to offset losses they make on running costs against their other income, reducing the amount of income tax they pay.
And people who face a capital gains tax bill after selling other assets could also put off paying the money – if they buy a holiday property – until after they sell it.
This rule made investing in holiday homes popular with people who faced significant capital gains tax bills.
Toby Ryland, tax partner at Blick Rothenberg, said: "It's certainly going to make letting a second home as a holiday let less attractive. It will restrict availability and potentially push up the cost of renting a holiday home."
Gina Woodcraft, chief executive of Cartwheel Holidays which offers holiday lets across the region, said the changes would not affect established businesses but could damage confidence more generally.
"We need to feel confident to trade and still invest to generate wealth. People could start to pull their horns in a little bit."
The clampdown on second homes does not signal a sudden shift in policy from the Government after years of calls from MPs in Devon and Cornwall to tackle the problem of local people being priced out of their villages.
It follows a ruling that the perks did not comply with EU law because it only applied to UK properties.
So until April 6, the rules will be extended to UK taxpayers with second homes, both here and overseas, costing the Treasury £15 million.
And from next year, the rules will be scrapped, leading to an extra £20 million being raised for Treasury coffers.
Ministers have previously rejected Mr Taylor's recommendation for all second homes to be subject to tighter controls.
He was asked by the PM to look at ways to reinvigorate life in the countryside and proposed that planning permission be needed for family houses to be used as a second home.
But the MP for Truro and St Austell saw the plan jettisoned by housing minister Margaret Beckett, who claimed it could infringe the human rights of those seeking to have a part-time bolthole.
Last night, Mr Taylor said he did not realise tax reliefs were available to some second-home owners and welcomed the decision to close them.
"I am shocked to learn that second-home owners have been not only getting a council tax discount but also pay less tax. Anybody who is serious about letting a property shouldn't be making a loss on it."
But he warned it was unlikely to immediately lead to second-home owners selling up: "The truth is, you don't have a second home unless you have got a lot of money."
In order for a second home to qualify as a holiday property, it must be furnished, run as a commercial business and available to be rented by the public for at least 140 days a year.
To attract the current tax benefits, it must be let out for at least 70 days a ye
Nice copy and paste.
I agree that it's great news that the potential result of this is that more housing could be become available for locals.
Let's hope that proves to be the case.
Good news for me....I'll do alright out of the potential housing boom in Devon when the 2nd houses are flogged off. One man's loss is another mans gain, who says the economy is on it's artichoke?
What I don't understand about people moaning about second home owners is the fact that it is the local home owners who have sold their property at inflated prices in the first place. Then they moan that there is no affordable housing!!! I reckon it is a case of "I can't have it so nobody else should". Perhaps you should look closer to home and see how many properties certain local councilors own.
End of the day it's all about 'envy'..what would anyone do if they win the lottery?
At least the people who holiday in the second homes support local business.
Done that.
Protheroe is the property tycoon followed by Hockin, Tullis, Wills and others.
It is definitely not envy on my part, it is the fact that those people that got us all into this terrible mess are the same one's that are offering help to get us out of it.
You cannot build any economy on credit as much as you try - sooner or later it will bite and many are now suffering the pain of that bite, and before you start to imagine there is light at the end of the tunnel, think again - it hasn't really hit here yet.
Candalagos? That's an interesting alias that you've decided to use this time.
I quite like the Algarve myself, do you offer mates rates?
Roy, as I am a second home owner are you sure you would want to avail yourself of my reduced mates rates hospitality?
Dave is an estate agent. Roy is a cab driver. Viaduct is a knob.
What do you do for a living User4549??????
I've just had a rub of one of my crystal balls and I can see an Old Aged Pensioner stood on the Strand waving his walking stick at people who walk by. Someone who longs for life as it used to be - back in the 1950's when everything was in black in white.
Roy, Thats perfect, you really are a joke, if I had a walking stick I know where I would like to shove it and it would sure make you eyes water.
So what job are you employed in then?
Going by your suggestion as to what you enjoy doing with your walking stick, I think that you might be the oldest rent boy in town.
I'm the estate agent not Roy! Roys my driver in his luxury Lada Cab. His new cabs great for cruising.....overheard one comment about when the VIADUCT was nicely painted in all its glory and not a rusting old eyesore on the beachfront that everyone has to put up with year after year! Got to dash, meters running
Companies in Devon and Cornwall who promote holiday lets warned the move could see an exodus of properties from the industry – leading to less accommodation for tourists but raising the prospect of some houses which had only been used part-time coming on to the market to become permanent homes once again.
How many small Hotels did we once have in Dawlish and are now blocks of flats?
Hotels in Dawlish once occupied the youth on certain days of the week with disco's, now there is only one hotel, it is very expensive and caters for no youth fucntions unless it is the Rotary plying their services to attract young members to their dwindling membership.
I have heard the Pleasant is the place where people are harrassed into joining the Rotary.
Has anyone else heard of that watering hole being used to scheme behind closed doors to the detriment of the people of Dawlish? Redrock holiday appartments is (I am told) a very expensive place to stay, especially when Dawlish Warren attracts many from other parts of the country who live on benefits.
Times are hard!