How to tackle rural housing crisis in property hotspots like Whitby and halt Airbnb abuses – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Joyce Stangoe, St Andrews Road, Whitby.
Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?
Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?

IT is great to note the work being done by Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron on tackling the housing crisis in Cumbria (The Yorkshire Post, January 10 and 11) created by the number of second and holiday homes and Airbnb’s. His plan includes:

* Make second homes and holiday-lets new and separate class categories of planning use. This would mean that councils/National Parks could monitor and control numbers and tax effectively.

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* Provide targeted, ring-fenced finance so that planning departments have the resources to effectively police this new rule.

Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?
Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?

* Give councils the power to increase council tax by up to 100 per cent on second homes in the worst affected communities. This would protect communities and generate revenue to improve infrastructure and provide new affordable housing for local families.

* Ensure all holiday-let owners pay council tax, rather than avoiding paying anything at all if they are deemed a small business.

* Give councils and national parks the power to ensure that 100pc of new builds are genuinely affordable. I would add “for principal occupation only”.

* Ban Section 21 no-fault evictions.

Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?
Should the owners of second homes in national parks face new tax surcharges?
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* Ensure platforms like Airbnb meet the same standards as the traditional holiday let industry rentals.

Can I ask that North Yorkshire MPs and councillors support Mr Farron’s seven-point plan debated in Parliament last week, in particular my local MP for Whitby, to ensure we have the housing and employees needed to service our thriving tourist and care industry?

I would also go a step further and ask that party houses used by multiple individuals or families be classed as “houses of multiple occupation” to ensure the safety of our visitors, and that these party houses are not allowed in residential streets.

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