Increasing taxes for second homeowners is “misguided” and will lead to “unintended consequences” for local businesses, Witney’s MP has warned.

Councils are set to be given new powers which will allow them to charge second homeowners higher council tax and this has divided opinion in West Oxfordshire.

It has been reported that one in four councils in England have already made their minds up and have agreed to double the levy, with West Oxfordshire District Council supporting the emerging legislation due to its belief that it will make more housing accessible to local people.

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However, Witney MP Robert Courts has not lent his support to the new taxes and has described the council’s response as a “knee jerk reaction”.

Mr Courts said: “It is concerning that the Lib-Lab-Green council have seemingly pre-empted their position on this and when given the opportunity to raise new taxes, have already indicated they are intending to do so without even waiting to see the details in the final bill.”

Mr Courts said new affordable housing was a “real need for our area” but he warned that extra taxation was “misguided” and would lead to “unintended consequences” for local businesses.

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Instead of further taxation, Mr Courts said the focus should be on “ensuring that the planning process works such that we build the right houses, in the right areas, including on brownfield sites, building out existing permissions in a timely fashion”.

West Oxfordshire District Council leader Andy Graham hit back at Mr Courts and said: “Making politics out of wrongfully accusing the council’s administration of doing what is on the government’s own website shows how out of touch local MPs are with constant changing government policy.

"I am pleased however that Mr Courts recognises what else we are positively doing!"

In stark contrast, West Oxfordshire District Council’s executive member for finance Dan Levy has given his support to the legislation and has argued that second and empty homes “only drive-up house prices in the area”.

Mr Levy said: “The cost of housing in West Oxfordshire makes it very difficult for local people to buy local homes.

“We hope that the legislation will lead to more homes being available for our residents and so we will be adopting this legislation once it has passed through government.”

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Mr Levy said the additional income brought in by the new taxes would allow the council to support local services when the government was cutting funding for them.

It has been estimated the levy could generate an additional £200 million across England.

Charlie Maynard, the Liberal Democrat’s parliamentary candidate for Witney, struck a different tone to Mr Courts and said: “We have almost a thousand second homes in West Oxfordshire and that carries a social cost with locals being priced out of the housing market.

“Simultaneously, we have a central government demanding that ever more homes are built in West Oxfordshire.

“It feels a bit like trying to fill a bath with the plug out.”

Mr Maynard said increasing taxes would be part of efforts to “get the plug back in and making house prices more affordable for locals”.

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West Oxfordshire District Council will be able to hike up taxes on second homeowners once the government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has gone through.

The bill is backed by all the political parties and it will reduce the time after which a premium on an empty property can be charged from two years to one.

Councils will also be able to introduce a council tax premium of up to 100 per cent on second homes.

The new legislation could come into effect as early as April 2024.

Speaking on behalf of West Oxfordshire District Council, Mr Graham said: 

Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said “This proposal for additional tax is a government policy that has been put forward to tackle the issue of empty homes and the bill recognises the impact that high levels of second home ownership can have, and that more needs to be done to disincentivise people from simply doing nothing with their property, or not using it to its full potential.

“The council has indicated it will support the bill, not only to help the housing crisis but also to help fund vital local services that all residents use at a time when our funding is being reduced.

“Our aim as a council is to tackle the growing housing affordability crisis we are seeing where local people unable to buy local homes due to increasing housing costs.

"We have nearly 1000 second homes across the district and second home ownership is recognised to have a negative impact in terms of the supply of homes available to meet local housing need.

"We want to see more affordable homes in the right places, working in partnership with communities and housing providers so local people can afford to live and work in West Oxfordshire and we see this as one of many ways to achieve that.”

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Ed specialises in writing political stories for the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times. 

He joined in the team in February 2023, after completing a History undergraduate degree at the University of York and studying for his NCTJ diploma in London.

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