[Busman747]

Originally Posted by jambutty[FONT=Times New Roman

You can hardly blame someone living in a Cornish fishing village where work is not plentiful to sell his/her house for the best price that s/he can get and move to where there is work. Sadly this takes a house off the market that a young village couple would like to have bought, except the outsider has outbid them. The second homes stay empty for most of the year whilst the young villagers cannot find a place that they can afford to buy. So they move out and slowly the village is in terminal decline.[/FONT]

A sad picture you paint jambutty, BUT! What if that same person RENTS their Cornish house at an inflated price to some mug from London which will give him or her a monthly financial boost to locate elsewhere where there is work to be found, What you are suggesting is that He or She should be penalised by paying additional council tax on their "second" home because they own a house in Cornwall?

They could get the tenants to accept responsibility for council tax, but that would affect the net income they would receive.

IF I was in a position to buy a second "holiday home" (I wish) I would resent being charged more than my neighbour for refuse collecting, road repairs etc all things that I am not using for several months of the year, I think that people that bring up these subjects are a little GREEN with envy and would certainly have a different opinion if they are financially able to own a second home.

(Don't forget, places like Cornwall have a low band of council tax simply because they do not enjoy many of the services that a large town or city has)