Second home owners in Keswick should be stung with five times the going rate of council tax to stem the loss of houses to the holiday market, a leading local councillor has said.
Cllr Tony Lywood believes that radical intervention is needed by councils and the government to curb the number of holiday lets and change the rates system.
The Labour councillor has raised the issue following what he called the “heart wrenching” account of a young Keswick couple.
They wrote to him in a desperate plea to try to find somewhere to live in Keswick.
The pair grew up, live and work in Keswick, but have been told that the two-bedroom property they rent is being put up for sale.
The couple, who have a one-year-old child with another on the way, say they cannot afford to buy a house in Keswick on the open market.
There are reports that since 2020, already high house prices in the town have soared again to between 10 and 30 per cent.
The couple say there is nowhere suitable or available to rent and that they have lost out on the few social housing properties they have applied for.
They say they cannot simply leave Keswick because they only have one car and depend on local family for childcare support.
The couple said: “We are aware that the lack of housing in Keswick is a massive problem but we are becoming very distressed with our situation and hopeless that we will ever secure affordable housing in our home town.
“We are getting desperate as we just haven’t got the space now our family is growing.
“We have no garden for our daughter to play in which is vital for us now that she is walking around and really needs somewhere safe to play outside.
“We have had no luck in finding another private property as they are all far too expensive.”
Cllr Lywood has taken on the couple’s case. “These are young people who work in the community and want to try and stay in Keswick and they simply cannot
do it.
“I would now like to see a cap on the proliferation of holiday lets in the town and the immediate change in the ratings system.”
“People who have holiday lets only want to do the best for themselves and want to buy properties where the money is, but the most annoying thing of all to me is that the system effectively allows us to subsidise holiday lets as they pay no council tax.”
Cllr Lywood said holiday lets claimed small business rates relief, which he said was designed to encourage start-up businesses and shopkeepers.
He said: “What is needed is to dis-incentivise turning a house into a holiday let so that it is not massively lucrative.
“Until we do that, I don’t blame any holiday let owner or second home owner.”
Allerdale Borough Council said that any move to charge “multiples” of council tax would require new legislation from the Government.
