8 COUNCIL TAX: DISCRETIONARY POWERS TO ALLOW DISCOUNTS AND / OR RAISE A PREMIUM 2021/22 PDF 517 KB
To submit the report
of the Cabinet Member for Finance
(attached).
Additional documents:
Decision:
For
2021/22, that Gwynedd Council:
·
Allows NO discount on class A
second homes, in accordance with Section 12 of the Local Government Finance Act
1992.
·
Allows NO discount and RAISES
A PREMIUM of 100% on class B second homes, in accordance with Section 12B of
the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
Allows NO discount on homes that have been empty for 6 months or more and RAISES A PREMIUM of 100% on homes that have been empty for 12 months or more, in accordance with Section 12A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Ioan
Thomas, presented a report asking the Council for formal confirmation for
2021/22, of the previous decisions not to give discounts to second homes and to
disallow discounts on empty properties, and to raise a premium of 100% on such
relevant properties.
The Assistant Head of Finance (Revenue and Risk)
elaborated on the outcome of the public consultation on the proposal to
increase the Premium on second homes and long-term empty properties to up to
100% for the 2021/22 financial year, as well as the legal requirements. He also
drew attention to the importance of the Equality Impact Assessment, and members
were reminded that they had to consider this assessment when making their
decision. An explanation and guidance was provided on the findings, and
particular attention was given to the allegation that the proposal could
indirectly discriminate groups with protected characteristics, and the need for
members to balance this when making their decision.
Members of Council staff from various departments
were thanked for ensuring the success of the public consultation.
A
member noted that although he agreed with the Cabinet's opinion that there was
increasing pressure on the local housing stock and that holiday home owners had
the means to pay a bit more, he was concerned that the proposal to increase the
availability of affordable housing by increasing the Premium meant that the
Cabinet had misunderstood the situation. There was a risk that increasing the
Premium by 100% would trigger more second home owners to let their properties
and transfer them to the non-domestic rates, which would mean that those houses
would be lost forever, as there were no powers available to get them back onto
Domestic Rates. He did not believe that Welsh Government had done enough about
the situation, and he believed that it should be a requirement to obtain planning
permission to transfer houses to Non-domestic Rates. He expressed his concern
that the Council would ultimately lose a lot of income, and he was of the
opinion that it was premature to raise the Premium by 100%, and that it would
be better to wait and see what the situation would be following the Welsh
Senedd Election in May. On that basis, he proposed an amendment to stick to the
current procedure of charging a 50% premium for 2021/22, amending the second
and third bullet-points of the recommendation in the report as follows:-
"For 2021/22, that
Gwynedd Council:
·
Allows NO discount and CHARGES A PREMIUM OF 50% on class B second
homes, in accordance with Section 12B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
·
Allows NO discount on homes
that have been empty for 6 months or more and CHARGES A PREMIUM OF 50% on homes that have been
empty for 12 months or more for 2018/19, in accordance with Section 12A of the
Local Government Finance Act 1992."
The amendment was seconded.
During the discussion on the amendment, other
members supported the amendment on the basis:-
· That tourism was ... view the full minutes text for item 8