25th
Jun 2021
A recent petition to Cornwall council has nearly 40,000 signatories demanding the introduction of rent caps for private renters and second home owners should shoulder massive tax rises.
The Change.org.site which is responsible for the petition, states that Cornwall is undergoing a homelessness crisis with “second homes property frenzy” worsening the situation.
The county has seen an exodus from the South East and other parts of the country in a ‘race for space’ buyers looking to change their lifestyle because of the pandemic.
In part of the overtly long introduction to the petition it says: “Cornwall currently has more than 10,290 active Airbnb listings, yet in comparison, the housing website Rightmove had only 62 properties available to rent privately across the whole county.”
Petitioners are urging the Conservative Cornwall’s council to:
“Levy a higher, more stringent tax on second homes which recognises the threat they pose to local communities;
“Close the loophole which allows them to be classed as 'businesses' allowing them to tap into locally allocated funds and in some cases avoid paying council tax altogether;
“Work quickly towards outlining firm strategies to cap local rents in keeping with local incomes so that local families are not left homeless.
“Use the funds accrued from taxing second homes properly into building FIRST and ONLY affordable homes for local families.”
Richard Merrick of PIMS, says: “Once again the seemingly eternal cash cow is slowly being slaughtered by another short sighted viewpoint. A high proportion of tenants cannot and will not be able to ever purchase their own home because of the failure of successive governments to fund or ‘encourage’ affordable house building over many decades.”
News Archive »