The decision of North Yorkshire County Council to be the first authority in the UK to enforce a 100% mandatory premium on second holiday homes is a welcome one. This move is expected to raise £14mn, which will be distributed to cash-strapped local councils in North Yorkshire.
The benefits of Yorkshire’s natural beauty
The natural beauty of Yorkshire’s coastline and environment, including iconic landmarks such as Malham Cove and the steps of Whitby Cathedral, attracts millions of visitors from around the world and is a key sector of the region’s economy. The recent trend of ‘staycations’ suggests that these numbers will continue to grow, especially given the current economic climate.
However, the revenue brought in from tourists should not solely be concentrated in the hands of holiday home companies and landlords who profit from renting out hundreds of cottages and flats year-round.
Local councils also deserve a share, as they provide services and cleans, as well as cultural exhibitions for holidaymakers to enjoy, often with free entry. In addition, local authorities undertake rare animal conservation and environmental protection measures, such as rewilding and coastal erosion defences, which need to be funded from somewhere, so why not second, third or fourth holiday homes?
The housing crisis in coastal and rural communities
The housing crisis is destroying coastal and rural communities, as young people are burdened with decades of mortgage debt in order to become homeowners in areas with good jobs. This is especially true in parts of Yorkshire that have experienced the legacy of post-industrialisation. The holiday homes premium is a good start and serves as a case study of how local or devolved authorities can meaningfully change the economic equilibrium and enact practical measures to soften the impact of the housing crisis.
By providing a disincentive to ever-higher prices driven by a rush of property developers and private letting companies buying up housing stock in beautiful countryside and coastal areas, we can help secure a more stable housing market based on local need, not private greed. It is only fair that money from Yorkshire’s tourism should benefit the communities living in these areas, and second holiday homeowners should pay their fair share in council tax.
A bold and necessary move
The decision of North Yorkshire County Council to implement a 100% mandatory premium on second holiday homes is therefore a bold and necessary move. While some landed gentry and holiday-homes-profiteers may claim that this welcome move will reduce the demand for properties in North Yorkshire, this is exactly why the decision to enact it is correct.
The obvious merits of the holiday-homes premium are evidenced by the fact that councils across the UK are also adopting this policy, as it works to help local communities no matter where they are. This economic disincentive will ideally lead to lower house prices in the most squeezed areas of Yorkshire’s housing stock, especially benefitting young people and young families. By encouraging local retention instead of emigration to London, Manchester, Sheffield or Leeds, my hope is that rural Yorkshire shall thrive and recover from the consequences of post-industrialisation.
I just hope that unscrupulous landlords and private letting companies do not find and abuse loopholes to avoid paying their fair share. Thus, I am glad that Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, recently initiated a government crackdown – closing tax-loopholes on second homes by disallowing the practice of owners registering their often-empty properties as holiday lets in an attempt to defund the taxpayer and our councils of our fair share.
Yorkshire can only thrive if our young people are able to live, work, and play in the places they are born. The current system pushes young people in rural and coastal communities away from their homelands to the gold-paved-streets of our big cities. A change is needed.
