Clashes over second home tax hike with suggestion of ‘extraterrestrial powers’

Scarborough and Filey councillors clashed over plans to double council tax bills for second home owners in the county.

At a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council on Wed (Feb 21), councillors representing the county’s coastal areas including Filey and Scarborough clashed over a proposal to introduce a 100 per cent council tax premium on second home owners.

The authority hopes that the plan, which was approved, will bring in more than £10m of extra funding a year to help tackle the affordable housing crisis. However, not all councillors were in favour of the proposals, amid suggestions that it would put an unnecessary burden on tourists and the tourism industry.

Coun Sam Cross, who represents the Filey division, opposed the second home tax hike, stating that it was “not fair and not decent” because he said that holidaymakers did not use the same services as residents.

He told the council that when visiting his own holiday home on the coast “my children did not go to school in that area, we didn’t take any part in the services, and we took our own rubbish home”.

Coun Heather Phillips, who represents Seamer, responded by asking whether Coun Cross had “developed some extraterrestrial powers”.

She said: “I have a wonderful image of Sam Cross as he levitates his way across North Yorkshire from West Yorkshire. He doesn’t look at the view as he comes to us, he doesn’t use the council-cleaned beach, he doesn’t walk across the council-cut grass, and his children don’t play in the council-subsidised play areas.

“And he doesn’t use any of the other council-subsidised services that this extra money will help to provide. We don’t have to spend it on doing those things, we can use it to build houses that are so dearly needed.”

Council analysis has shown that the introduction of a 100 per cent premium on council tax bills for second homes in North Yorkshire could generate between £11.5 million and £16.5 million a year in additional revenue.

The Scarborough area has the potential to bring in almost half of the additional revenue due to the large number of second homes in coastal towns such as Whitby, Scarborough and Filey.

Coun Simon Myers, the executive member for housing said he supported finding a “right balance” and said tourists were welcome but that he had greater sympathy for those without a house than those with second homes.

A lack of affordable housing across North Yorkshire has been a long-running issue, accentuated in many of the county’s rural and coastal locations that are among the most desirable places to live in the country.

Coun David Chance, who represents the coastal Danby and Mulgrave division, said: “I have one village where there are 300 houses and only 30 are permanently occupied. In Runswick Bay, there are 12 properties occupied by permanent residents in the lower village, so I have great sympathy with this proposal.”

According to figures from the National Housing Federation, there are 8,081 second homes in North Yorkshire – the highest number in the Yorkshire and Humber region. The 100 per cent premium for council tax bills on second homes is set to be introduced from April next year.