Councils’ persecution of second-home owners

sir – Councils doubling council tax for second-home owners (report, April 1) is another example of a worrying move towards social engineering, which should not be within their remit.

Council tax is supposed to pay for services received, not influence behaviour. That is why it varies between local authorities.

Yes, it is fair that home owners should pay a council tax that reflects how many people could occupy their home and enjoy council services, but those who may only have two modest homes should not have to pay three times the amount that someone else pays for a single house.

There was a time when secondhome owners actually got a discount to reflect the fact they were using services less. That made far more sense.

Richard Hopkinson-woolley London SW19

sir – We own a first-floor flat, which we tried to sell when my wife started to develop mobility problems. However, the pandemic interfered and two potential sales fell through.

In early 2022 my wife had to go into hospital, but when, six weeks later, she was ready to come home, the NHS transport people found they could not get her back up the stairs and into the flat.

We were therefore forced to move into rented accommodation. At the same time, the flat was put up for sale again, but for two years now it has failed to sell.

We have been paying the standard council tax on the property throughout, as well as paying the tax on the rented property in which we actually live.

Earlier this year Herefordshire Council wrote to us to say that, because the flat has now been empty for more than 12 months, the council tax would double with effect from April 1. I wrote to the council to explain our circumstances, but was told that none of the exemptions applies.

Alan Tattersall Ledbury, Herefordshire