Hi there!
This is a question about council tax for fellow hosts in England.
I host in a very nice riverside flat in Essex which I bought in 2020. I initially meant to let it to a tenant, but because the location and the view is so good, ended up marketing it as an Air B&B. It's something I've been doing so fairly successfully for about four years. In the summer. it's very popular and has more than "washed its face", although in the winter months, there are times when I go several weeks without a booking.
I have always paid the full council tax on the property - I live in another property in the same town - and have been happy to do so, rather than register the flat as a commercial holiday let.
This week, I received my council tax demand for the coming year and discovered to my horror that from April, my local council will be levying something called a "second home premium" on the property - doubling my council tax liability for the flat to more than £3.500 PA! That means that I will have to be earning almost £350 each month from the property, simply to cover this liability, which, frankly is unrealistic.
I have looked at the rules for this change and am 99% sure I don't qualify for any kind of exemption from this.
When I started using the property as an Air B&B, I did consider de-registering it for council tax and applying to pay business rates instead, but at the time, it didn't seem worth doing. (I was advised that the rules said you didn't need to register a property as a business if you let it for fewer than a certain number of days and it was pretty borderline whether I would be in breach of this.)
However. with the imminent doubling of my council tax liability on the flat, I'm beginning to think about this as an option.
I was just wondering if other UK hosts are facing a similar doubling of their council tax bills and if so. what they're planning to do about it.
Tim
