Dales dilemma

Taxsurchargeforsecondhomes?

THE RADICAL proposal to impose a 500 per cent council tax surcharge on second homes in the Yorkshire Dales was never going to find favour with the owners of the properties concerned. Why, they contend, should they be penalised when they’ve worked hard for their family’s idyllic bolthole?

This is borne out by today’s launch of the Dales Homeowners Action Group which says the proposal is the biggest economic threat to the area since the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic as those concerned rush to sell the properties in question before a feared fall in house prices.

However, this should not deter the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, and local councils, from exploring the issue. They should be credited for thinking the unthinkable at a time when politicians, and Theresa May’s government in particular, are too timid in their approach to the big policy challenges.

There is a desperate shortage of affordable homes in the Dales and many rural communities are fighting for their future existence as local services and amenities become unsustainable – villages need to be able to function 365 days a year if they’re to survive and can’t rely upon visiting families using their second home every now and again.

Perhaps one way forward is for the levy to be phased in, kept under review and for the National Park to be much clearer on how the proceeds will be spent. If it can be shown that the money generated will be spent on affordable homes, and the benefits that this will bring to the area, some of the sceptics might accept that it is, in fact, a small price to pay if it protects the Dales for future generations.