Response 954774626

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Questions

1. Do you think the current definition of a second home should continue to apply?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please give us reasons for your answer
anything which makes it less likely that investment businesses will turn homes into holiday accommodation woll be a good thing

2. Do you think the discount eligibility for job related dwellings and purpose built holiday accommodation is appropriate?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please give us reasons for your answer
no discount should apply

3. Do you think councils should be able to charge a council tax premium on top of regular council tax rates for second homes?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please give us reasons for your answer
to make it less atteactive to offshore investment businesses taking homes out of the local market

4. If you have answered yes to question 3, what do you think the maximum premium councils could charge should be?

Please select one item
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
Other amount, please specify the percentage
as much as is needed to preserve homes
Please give reasons for your answer
people cant compete with airbnb international businesses and end up leaving the Highlands for places they can afford to live and work in

5. What factors should be taken into account by councils when deciding whether to introduce a premium on council tax for second homes?

Please list factors you think should be taken into account by councils and give reasons for your answer
local housing waiting lists

6 . If you do, or were to, own a second home please tell us what you would do if the applicable rate of council tax were to increase, and the ‘thresholds’ to be classed as self-catering holiday accommodation for non-domestic rates purposes stayed the same?

Something else, please specify
sorry, daft question. 'would you give up your second income if it became too expensive - yes
Please give reasons for your answer
i

7. Do you think councils should be able to charge a higher premium than the current 100% (double the full rate) of council tax on homes empty for longer than 12 months?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please give us reasons for your answer
see above. discourage homes being sold fir stls

8. If you have answered yes to question 7, what do you think the maximum premium councils could charge should be?

Other, please specify the percentage
no max, depends on sayuration - my street in central Inverness already has FAR too many stl properties
Please give reasons for your answer
affects amenity, destroys community, nuisance of 24 hour arrivals and departures ( taxis, hired cars, wheelue trolleys, loud conversations as people atruggle with keysafes

9. Do you think there should be a stepped approach to charging higher rates of council tax on long-term empty homes?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please give reasons for your answer
depends - if building was bought solely as investment ( calue of property goes up) then an increasing scale would seem appropriate.

10. Are there any exceptions that are not already taken into account, that should be, when charging a premium of council tax on homes empty for longer than 12 months?

Please tell us about exemptions that you feel should apply and give reasons for your answer. Do not include exemptions that are already provided for.
if the teason a building is empty is because solicitors are taking too long to wind up an estate, the solicitor should face penalty charges

11. What factors should be taken into account by councils when deciding whether to introduce a premium on council tax for homes empty for longer than 12 months?

Please list factors and provide reasons for your answer
all thise listed - each case on its merits

Questions continued

12. If you do, or were to, own a home that has been empty for longer than 12 months, please tell us what you would do if your council decided to increase the maximum council tax charge above 100% premium?

Please select one item
Leave the home empty and pay the higher council tax
Sell the empty home
Use the home as a private residential tenancy
Use the home as a short-term let
Please provide reasons for your answer
if I had a spare house and I could offset some of the costs of ownership by letting it out, I woukd do that. there are never enough homes to oet here

13. Do you think that the letting thresholds for self-catering accommodation for non-domestic rates should be changed?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please give reasons for your answer.
30 days occupied every 6 months would be fairer would alliw 6 month lets

14. If you have answered yes to question 13, what do you think the threshold for the number of days self-catering accommodation must actually be let for should be?

Please select one item
50 days
100 days
140 days
180 days
Other
Please provide reasons for your answer
to encourage 6 month tenancies

15. If you have answered yes to question 13, what do you think the threshold for the number of days self-catering accommodation must be available to let should be?

Please select one item
120 days
160 days
200 days
250 days
Other - please specify
Please provide reasons for your selection/ answer
airbnbs here are let for short periods, and the owners yse them themselves for short periods. they are still not ovcupied enough to become part of the community

16. Do you think councils should have discretion to change the self-catering accommodation ‘days actually let’ threshold, for their local area?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please give reasons for your answer.
each area will have its own challenges, and although there might be national guidance, local authorities know their own areas best

17. If you answered yes to question 16 do you think that councils should have discretion to:

Please select one item
Increase the number of days actually let only
Decrease the number of days actually let only
Increase or decrease the number of days actually let

18. Do you have any other comments on the non-domestic rates system in respect of self-catering accommodation?

Please provide your views.
same rules should apply to hoth. waste, parking, upkeep, safety checks

19. If you do, or were to, own a second home please tell us what you would do in the event that the applicable rate of council tax and non-domestic rate thresholds both increased?

Please select one item
The home is already used as a private residential tenancy
I would continue to use it purely for personal use and pay the higher rate of council tax
I would continue with split use between self-catering accommodation (below the thresholds to be liable for non-domestic rates) and personal use, and pay council tax
My second home already has/would have split use between self-catering accommodation (below the non-domestic rates threshold) and personal use. Rather than pay the higher rate of council tax, I would increase the number of days the accommodation is available to let and actually let in order to meet the non-domestic rates thresholds
My second home already has/would have split use between self-catering accommodation (above the non-domestic rates threshold) and personal use. Rather than revert to paying council tax, I would increase the number of days the accommodation is available to let and actually let in order to meet the higher non-domestic rates thresholds
My second home is purely for personal use. However, in order to stop paying council tax, I would make it available as self-catering accommodation and let it for the number of days I needed to in order to be liable for non-domestic rates
I use my second home purely for personal use but I would change its use to a private residential tenancy
I use my second home as self-catering accommodation (below the non-domestic rates threshold) but I would change its use to a private residential tenancy
I would seek reclassification as an empty home and pay council tax
I would sell the second home
Something else (please specify)
Please give reasons for your selection/ answer.
I dont own a second home so questions about what if are largely irrelevant to me

20. If you do, or were to, own a second home please tell us what you would do in the event that:

Please give reasons for your selection/ answer.
see answer above

Questions continued 2

22. Please tell us how you think changes to the maximum council tax rate for second and/or empty homes and non-domestic rates thresholds might affect your local area or Scotland as a whole (social, economic, environment, community, cultural, enterprise).

Please provide information below.
too many part-time neighbourhoods, especially off season in remote rural villages. too many airbnbs in my central location. seems to be no control on percentages allowed. about time homes stopped being sold sight-unseen to offshore investors

23. Please tell us how you think the changes identified might affect Island Communities.

same as above. if only tourists in summer, sevices to local people ( gealth, post, shops etc) would be vadly affected in winter. seasonsl work servicing holiday accom isnt regular enough to get a mortgage, even if there were homes made affordaboe!

24. Do you think there are any equality, human rights, or wellbeing impacts in relation to the proposed changes set out in the consultation?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Don't know
Please explain the reason for your answer
local people are priced out of tge narket. there should be a humannright to stay near where you were brought up, or where family live

25. Is there anything else you would like to tell us in relation to this consultation?

Please provide information below.
people live remorely until they cant so urban areas are negatively impacted by increasing oercentages of older people. meanwhile young people move out and dont move back

About you

Are you responding as an individual or an organisation?

Please select one item
(Required)
Individual
Organisation

Please tell us which of the following categories best describe you (select all that apply):

Please select all that apply
Owner of a Second Home
Owner of a Long-term Empty Home
Short-Term Let/Self-Catering accommodation operator
Council or Assessor
Organisation e.g. third sector or industry body
Member of the Public
Other, please specify

Please tick whichever council areas apply to you (or select all of Scotland)?:

Please select all that apply
Aberdeen City
Aberdeenshire Council
All of Scotland
Angus Council
Argyll and Bute Council
City of Edinburgh Council
Clackmannanshire Council
Dumfries and Galloway
Dundee City Council
East Ayrshire Council
East Dunbartonshire Council
East Lothian Council
East Renfrewshire Council
Falkirk Council
Fife Council
Glasgow City Council
Highland Council
Inverclyde Council
Midlothian Council
Moray Council
Na h-Eileanan Siar Council
North Ayrshire Council
North Lanarkshire Council
Orkney Council
Perth and Kinross Council
Renfrewshire Council
Scottish Borders Council
Shetland Council
South Ayrshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council
Stirling Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
West Lothian Council