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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/live/2016/may/25/should-the-government-ban-second-home-ownership-live-debate
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| Should the government ban second home ownership? – live debate | Should the government ban second home ownership? – live debate |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 12.00pm BST | |
| 12:00 | |
| Matthew Holmes | |
| Earlier this month we asked readers around the UK what impact second home ownership was having on their towns and communities. | |
| We heard from people living not only in coastal towns in Cornwall and nearby Devon, but also inland areas such as north Wales and the Lake District National Park, which has recently published a report on the impact of second homes on rural communities there. | |
| Russ, who is 33 and originally from North Devon, said he was forced to move away from where he grew up due to predominance of second homes. | |
| I grew up in an area now dominated by second homes, went to university, came back to work in a well paid profession (I’m a solicitor) and I wanted to give back to my community – yet I cannot afford to buy a house for me and my young family. In the North Devon district the average house price is 11.4 times higher than the average salary: how is that affordable? | |
| Cath, a restaurateur from Bembridge is feeling the impact on her Isle of Wight community: | |
| There is an imbalance in our community now, with second homers pushing up house prices, excluding young and/or first time buyers from areas of the island. This creates a divide in neighbourhoods: there is a very definite ‘them and us’ attitude, on both sides. | |
| We also heard some of your potential solutions:A reader from Anglesey who prefers to remain anonymous was one of many who discussed an overhaul to council tax system: | |
| Second home owners should pay much more council tax so that they actually contribute to the local economy rather than stifling it. This could be calculated on a sliding scale proportionate to the amount of time they spend here. | |
| You can share more of your experiences with us in the comments below, or anonymously with the form posted here. | |
| 11.47am BST | |
| 11:47 | |
| Sarah Marsh | |
| Another interesting thought .... | |
| In practice, but I don’t see how that could be enforced. A family, for example, could put one home in the husband’s name, another in the wife’s name and a third in a child’s name.Alternatively they could hire a front man who would “own” the home but allow the beneficial owners to stay rent free or receive a “rent” which was used to pay a mortgage. | |
| 11.46am BST | |
| 11:46 | |
| We are kicking off in 10 minutes and have already had lots of interesting stuff coming through via our anonymous form: | |
| I work as a GP in the south east of London and have done for the past 10 years. During that time I have seen house prices not just grow but explode way beyond my income, which is in the top 3% of salaries nationwide. | |
| My husband and I now pay out over £30,000 a year in rent and nursery fees for our child. We’re now looking at moving out of the capital, despite investing years of time and energy into jobs and our local community. If we have a six-figure household income and can’t afford to buy in London, who can? | |
| Anonymous, 38, south east London | |
| 10.35am BST | 10.35am BST |
| 10:35 | 10:35 |
| Welcome to our live debate | |
| Sarah Marsh | Sarah Marsh |
| At a time of rising homelessness (up by almost a third last year), should the government ban second and multiple home ownership? | At a time of rising homelessness (up by almost a third last year), should the government ban second and multiple home ownership? |
| There’s been a lot of debate on this, with news of the Tower, a 50-storey apartment complex in London, owned by foreign investors and left unoccupied for most of the year, and council plans in St Ives, Cornwall, to make new-build properties in town available only to full-time locals to help residents on the property ladder. | There’s been a lot of debate on this, with news of the Tower, a 50-storey apartment complex in London, owned by foreign investors and left unoccupied for most of the year, and council plans in St Ives, Cornwall, to make new-build properties in town available only to full-time locals to help residents on the property ladder. |
| So, what do you think? On the one side, banning second homes is risky, particularly for tourist areas such as St Ives. The London School of Economics is studying the effects of a similar ban in Switzerland, noting a negative effect on local economies. Christian Hilber, an associate professor in economic geography there, speaking to Quartz, said he recommended a tax that discourages from people buying property and leaving it empty, rather than a ban. | So, what do you think? On the one side, banning second homes is risky, particularly for tourist areas such as St Ives. The London School of Economics is studying the effects of a similar ban in Switzerland, noting a negative effect on local economies. Christian Hilber, an associate professor in economic geography there, speaking to Quartz, said he recommended a tax that discourages from people buying property and leaving it empty, rather than a ban. |
| But on the other side, house prices are out of reach for most people – what can we do to make housing more affordable? Do we have a moral obligation to ensure residents are not pushed out of the areas that they grew up in? What other solutions are there? | But on the other side, house prices are out of reach for most people – what can we do to make housing more affordable? Do we have a moral obligation to ensure residents are not pushed out of the areas that they grew up in? What other solutions are there? |
| Join us 12pm-2pm today to debate live below the line. Comments will be open at noon but check back on the page for updates and relevant information, which we will be posting over the course of the morning. | Join us 12pm-2pm today to debate live below the line. Comments will be open at noon but check back on the page for updates and relevant information, which we will be posting over the course of the morning. |
| If you would prefer to add your thoughts anonymously feel free to submit them via the form below. | |
| Updated | |
| at 11.49am BST |