14th
Mar 2022
Once again the Generation Rent activist group has started another lobbying campaign for its members and followers to ‘swamp’ their MPs with its latest letter template before the Budget raises its head on the 23rd (March).
The activist’s Twitter account tells its 17,000 members and followers: “The rise of AirBnBs is denying homes to people who need them. Taxing them properly will mean more #HomesNotHotels. Ask your MP to call on Rishi Sunak to close the holiday let tax loophole at the Spring Forecast on 23 March.”
One of the links in the tweets allows activists to tap in their postcode and receive a ready made customised letter to send to their own local MP.
Users are also encouraged to tick a box to receive extra updates and material from the campaign.
The letter to MPs says:
“As you may know, the rise of holiday lets have had a huge impact on areas throughout Great Britain that are popular with holiday makers.
“While the domestic tourism industry is a big part of the economy, and it is important that there is accommodation to support this, the growth of the holiday let sector is taking homes away from people who need to live there and damaging communities.
“I read that the Government has acted to tighten the rules so that second homeowners can no longer avoid paying council tax by claiming that their property is a holiday let.
“This is welcome news, but it is not the solution.
“The new thresholds to qualify for business rates will bring some funds back into local communities – but they will do nothing to make more homes available to local people.
“The tax system still incentivises landlords to switch from renting to local people to holiday lets so they can claim tax relief on their mortgage interest payments.
“If the government wants to help people up and down the country find a home they can afford, withdrawing the tax relief from holiday lets would encourage landlords to start letting to tenants again.”
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