Residents of a scenic Cornish village are being forced to slash their property prices due to a tax clampdown on second homes. The demand for properties in the area has plummeted, it’s reported, following the move, which is aimed at easing the county’s housing crisis.
A homeowner in Golant is struggling to offload her waterside cottage even after cutting the price by a whopping £100,000, although reactions to this have been mixed, with strong feelings against second homes. The village is near Fowey, where celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay and Dawn French have previously owned properties. Debbie Pugh-Jones, 69, has lowered the asking price of her home three times in 10 months but has yet to secure a buyer. Properties in the vicinity of Golant fetched up to £425,000 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With this in mind, Debbie listed her home for £400,000 last August, only to find that her two-bedroom house was now priced similarly to a small flat in a rundown part of some cities.
She believes potential buyers have been put off by the doubled stamp duty for second homes and also blames Cornwall Council’s decision to double tax rates on them. This move is expected to bring in £24 million this year, reports Cornwall Live.
Residents in Cornwall and other sought-after tourist hotspots are finding themselves priced out of their hometowns as wealthy outsiders snap up properties for occasional use. Yet, these homes often remain empty, only occupied when the owners fancy a break from city life.
Conversely, local businesses argue that the income generated by second homeowners is crucial for their survival. They also heavily depend on the influx of tourists during the bustling summer season.
Debbie voiced her frustration, stating: “When you come down that much in price you would expect to get a viewing but I’ve had three in nearly a year. Nobody at all looked around between November and April.”
She also shed light on the impact of increased council tax on the local community: “Double council tax won’t affect the very wealthy but it will affect the middle class people wanting to buy a second home. The community is at risk of changing because some of the second home buyers in this village aren’t happy to be paying double council tax.”
Debbie highlighted the demographic shift in her village: “Around half of the houses in this village are second homes and the rest are retired people, there are very few people working in this village. It’s making them struggle but even if they wanted to sell they wouldn’t be able to.”
She further remarked on the absence of local jobs and facilities: “People living here used to work in farms and on the boats but all those industries are gone and the village doesn’t have a school, it’s not near a bus route and it doesn’t have any amenities. I’m not depriving a first time buyer of a place to live because it’s not the sort of house that would suit them.”
Looking back on her own journey, she added: “It had always been my dream to retire to the coast. It was the view that attracted me, the river view is nicer than the sea view because it is always changing. I paid a premium for it because I paid for the views but straight away I fell in love with it.”
Following the purchase of her Cornwall property for £240,000 in 2013, Debbie relocated to Bath after her mother’s death last year, having invested £30,000 in improvements whilst living there.
Nick Budd, landlord of The Fisherman’s Arms village pub, said second homes are a reality of life in Golant. He added: “It’s a hard one because not all second home owners are the same. You have the holiday lets which are great for us, because when people come on holiday they want to eat out and drink in the pub.
“Then you have the lock up and leave its and they are the ones that kill us. The overwhelming outcome of property price rises is young people cannot afford to buy a house in the village and that situation needs addressing.”
A report has revealed that almost 9,500 properties in Cornwall were used as second homes last year. However, following the implementation of the “tourist tax” on April 1, demand for these properties has significantly decreased.
Bradley Start, from Newquay’s Start and Co estate agents, said: “They’ve received these demands for twice as much council tax and that’s prompted a lot of people to think about selling.”