Council tax from second homes in East Suffolk to be spent on social housing
It was voted in unanimously
Last updated 24th Feb 2023
East Suffolk Council has supported the idea of investing money from extra council tax on second and empty homes into social and affordable housing.
A motion to direct the money from a 100 percent precept planned for second and empty homes into social housing was put forward by the Green, Liberal Democrat and Independent (GLI) group of councillors.
An amendment to the motion by the Conservative administration was voted in unanimously.
Putting forward the initial proposal, leader of the GLI Cllr David Beavan said: “House prices in Southwold are 20 times the average wage. Old Southwold families are being squeezed out.
“Nearly two out of three houses in Southwold are not lived in. The average rate across England and Wales is 4.4 percent.
“In Southwold we now have approximately 500 second homes, 400 holiday lets and just 500 homes with residents in.
“The second homes in Southwold alone will raise an extra £1 million a year with this extra council tax."
“That will mean an extra £140,000 for policing just from Southwold. Can this really be justified? Second homeowners haven’t really caused a lot of problems with the police.
“And an extra £770,000 for Suffolk County Council – for all the extra potholes caused or social care needed by these second homes.
“That will leave just £90,000 for East Suffolk to mitigate the real damage caused to our community through lack of affordable housing.
“Will people want to visit the soulless toy town where no one lives any more?
“I urge you to support this motion so we can save Southwold.”
The amended motion
The approved amended motion was put forward by leader of the council Cllr Steve Gallant.
It states the council will recommend to the new administration that a “significant and appropriate amount of funding” is invested in the council’s development companies for building and/or acquiring affordable and social housing in areas impacted by second homes – and that the county council and police and crime commissioner (PCC) will also be invited to invest in them as well.
This is similar to Cllr Beavan’s initial motion.
The main changes were the mention of “investing” for a return, and a removal of the suggestion in the GLI motion that the county council and PCC use the “entire” extra council tax for social housing.
Cllr Gallant said: “We are in full agreement with this. This amendment offers the opportunity for the PCC and county council to invest in something, as opposed to just handing over some money.
“If anyone in this room thinks the PCC has enough money to police his county, they are sadly mistaken."
What's next?
The 100 percent precept is included in the levelling up and regeneration bill, which is at the House of Lords committee stage of passing through parliament.
The amended motion acknowledges that this bill gaining royal assent and a decision by East Suffolk Council to implement the increased precept will be needed before the motion can be put into action.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Beavan said: “I am pleased we got a unanimous vote for this.
“The Conservatives insisted on trying to ‘own’ the idea, but I will not quibble as we got the result!”