Nigel Farage called it ‘madness’ but a Reform-led council has decided to do it anyway. The council’s report on the plan said it would raise up to £804,000 for local authority coffers
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the idea “madness”(Image: Getty Images)
A Reform-led council has proposed doubling tax on second homes despite party leader, Nigel Farage, previously calling the idea “madness”.
North Northamptonshire Council produced a report on Tuesday, November 11, outlining its plans to introduce a premium for second homes from April 1, 2027. It’s stated that the introduction will help the county’s shortage of available housing.
Earlier this year, Mr Farage, speaking to the Telegraph, claimed owning a second home was “an excuse for the Government to use extortion”.
He called premium tax on second homes “madness.”
North Northamptonshire elected a Reform majority in May this year but is going against the values set out by the party.
The council’s report on the plan said introducing the premium tax on 447 of the 511 second homes in the area would raise up to £804,000 in 2027/28.
It said some second-home owners could sell up before the tax rise took effect in 2027.
“This could result in a change of use of the property and increase the availability of housing in North Northamptonshire,” the council report said.
The report will be presented to the council at its meeting in December.
Second homes have been a big issue in Wales where there is a severe shortage of available housing in many communities and locals are often priced out of buying a property in the place where they live. Read here about the village where only 2% of locals can afford to buy a home there.
A number of local authorities have imposed a premium on council tax charges for second homes after the Welsh Government allowed up to a 300% charge, effectively quadrupling the bill.
The Welsh Government is, however, now looking at changing the policy on how many days in a year a property has to be let for to avoid the extra charges – to help out the tourist sector. You can read more about that here.
When asked about the move by North Northamptonshire Council by PoliticsHome, a spokesperson for Reform UK said the Party was opposed to the second home premium at national level, not local level.
They said: “The Reform UK administration in North Northamptonshire Council is working hard to deliver a balanced budget and address the almost 7,000 property shortfall in homes that they inherited after decades of local and national Conservative mismanagement.
“Whilst at a national level we oppose second home council tax premiums, we accept that local authorities have far fewer levers at their disposal than a national government when it comes to addressing urgent housing shortages.”
