Monday, May 17, 2010
Flip-flops aren't just for holidays, they're for politicians too
Daily Fail: Buying into Britain: With UK holidays on the rise, second home owners are renting out and cashing in
The sun is out. There are signs of a long, hot summer ahead. So if you're thinking about buying a second home in Britain and hope to rent it out, it's the time to strike. Add into the equation memories of volcanic ash, fluctuating exchange rates and the general hassle of overseas travel and it's little wonder more and more of us are holidaying at home. As a result, the [holiday] lettings business in Britain is on the rise.
In the scramble leading to polling day, there was no time for MPs to carry through a Labour plan to scrap holiday home owners' right to offset the cost of furniture and fittings against tax on earnings. The Conservatives claim the measure would lead to the loss of 4,500 jobs in rural areas because holiday home owners would withdraw from the lettings market....
3 Comments
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1. mark wadsworth said...
Some more excellent one-sided economics from The Home-Owner-Ists:
"The Conservatives claim the measure would lead to the loss of 4,500 jobs in rural areas because holiday home owners would withdraw from the lettings market...."
Maybe, mabe not, but...
1. Housing would be more affordable for people living in these areas (more people = more jobs)
2. If you can't rent out somebody's second home for a week, the chances are you'll book into a hotel or B&B or even a campsite instead, which creates more jobs than renting a second home,
3. Ocupancy rates in hotels or B&Bs are higher than in second homes, ergo more efficient use of land and buildings.
2. gone-to-colombia said...
Words cannot describe my opinion of this garbage.
3. powerofnow said...
I wonder what the financial loss to a community is for each property which is removed from full time occupation....? (I don't suppose anyone has bothered working that out)
Five years ago, most of the small shops were able to stay open year round in St Ives; this winter even more of them closed from November till March (5 months) We have gone from 1200 to about 1500 second homes in the town during that period (including many properties in the higher part of the town) This is a significant drop in income for people running businesses and working in the shops.
The real businesses in the town are paying over the odds for business rates and shop rents which are tied to overinflated property values; I wonder if any of the brilliant business minds really care about this or if they are only interested in maintaining their own property values.