Agenda item

Having complied with the Motions Procedure as set out in the council’s Constitution the motion attached will be proposed by Cllr Graeme Barrett and if duly seconded it will then be discussed at this meeting.

Cllr Barrett proposed his Motion which was seconded by Cllr Brown.

His Motion was as follows:

Having requested data from the Councils Council Tax team I have been advised that there are currently 1,688 properties listed for Council Tax in West Wittering parish. On looking through the Government website https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands for West Wittering there were a significant number of entries where properties have had their Tax Band  ‘Deleted’ thus do not pay Council Tax. Whilst there are a number of potential reasons for that, it may be that these properties now fall under the Business Rate structure as they are being rented out as holiday homes. 

In West Wittering Parish there are currently 326 properties registered as Second Homes of which many may be let out as holiday accommodation. The Councils business rating list indicates there are 33 properties registered as holiday homes in the parish. However, it would appear that if the Rateable Value of the Business property is less than £12000 there are no charges to pay as small business rate relief is applied. In the case of holiday accommodation the Rateable Values are well below £12000, and the average in West Wittering for this type of business is £4,750, meaning that no business rates are actually paid.

It is apparent that these properties do not contribute to the Councils cost of providing services so I would like to put forward the Following Motion:

That this Council write to the Member of Parliament for Chichester to raise this matter with the Secretary of State for Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to have this matter addressed and propose a solution whereby Councils are reimbursed for the services they provide.

Cllr Brown as seconder was invited to speak. On behalf of the Liberal Democrats group he explained that the Group wished to support the Motion.

As Cabinet member Cllr Wilding then responded. He explained that currently there is a loophole where a property owner can claim their property is available to let for 140 days a year in order to get it assessed for business rates rather than Council Tax and, if it is small business, it will pay no rates.  This applies even if it is not advertised or the rent is prohibitively high. The rules are being tightened from 1st April 2023, so rather than just being available for let for 140 days a property must also have actually been let for 70 or more days in the previous year in order to qualify for the rating list rather than Council Tax so this may result in some properties that are currently rated moving back into Council Tax. Cllr Wilding added that there is a proposal toincrease the Council Tax for second homes by adding a premium of 100% (i.e. charging double the normal rate).  This part of the Levelling Up Bill, but this has not passed into law yet, but even if it does pass into law, it will only apply to properties paying Council Tax. Cllr Wilding explained his view that holiday lets should not be exempt from Council Tax because they receive the same services as a property occupied by the owner. He therefore gave his support to the Motion to write to the MP for Chichester to raise the issues around some properties not contributing to local services with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and request that a solution is found whereby Councils are re-imbursed for the services they provide.

Cllr Purnell gave her support to the Motion and asked that the letter to the MP include reference to refuse collection from second homes. Mr Ward explained that officers were in the process of contact owners of properties being used as either Air BnB or commercial operations to explain that there refuse collection will be charged under commercial waste collection. Cllr Purnell thanked Mr Ward for the update.

In a vote the Motion was carried:

RESOLVED

That this Council write to the Member of Parliament for Chichester to raise this matter with the Secretary of State for Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to have this matter addressed and propose a solution whereby Councils are reimbursed for the services they provide.