Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Second Homes

Tuesday 8 April 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Andrew George raised concerns about the impact of second homes on social justice in Cornwall.
  • Jayne Kirkham acknowledged helpful actions taken by the Government on second homes and mentioned the Renters' Rights Bill.
  • The Minister emphasized the requirements and recent strengthening of criteria for properties to be assessed for business rates.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Andrew George Lib Dem St Ives
Taxation Housing
Context

Cornwall MP Andrew George is concerned about the use of loopholes such as small business rate relief that holiday homeowners are exploiting, costing taxpayers over £500 million over a decade. He wants to discuss more equitable distribution of public funds.

Question

I am grateful to the Minister for that response, but I believe we can go further, because this is not about the politics of envy but about the politics of social justice. In Cornwall, it cannot be right that through the small business rate relief system, over £500 million of taxpayers’ money has gone into the pockets of holiday homeowners in the last 10 years. Many of those homeowners have flipped their second homes into the small business rating system to take advantage of that loophole. Will the Minister meet me so that we can find a more equitable way of spending public money that goes into first homes rather than second homes?

Answer from James Murray (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury)

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. I agree with him about the importance of taking the right action to tackle second homes. I understand he had a meeting with the Minister for Housing and Planning last week, and I would be happy to follow up any items that arose from that. Our plan to build more homes includes 4,500 new homes in every year in Cornwall, and I hope he will support those building plans too.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not commit to a specific meeting or address the loophole directly asked about by the MP. Instead, he provided general information on homebuilding efforts.

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Q2 Jayne Kirkham Labour (Co-op) Truro and Falmouth
Housing
Context

The Renters’ Rights Bill is seen as a step towards helping those evicted due to the flipping of properties into short-term lets. MP Jayne Kirkham asks for further action on loopholes between council tax and business rates, and wants clarification on the registration or licensing scheme on second homes.

Question

I wish to add my voice as an MP from Cornwall to say that some of the actions the Government have taken so far on second homes have been really helpful. The Renters’ Rights Bill will help with those evictions when people are flipping their houses. I also ask that we look at the loophole between council tax and business rates, and at the registration or licensing scheme on second homes, which the Government will hopefully bring in soon.

Answer from James Murray (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury)

I appreciate the concerns that second home owners may move to the business rates system. I emphasise that there are requirements that must be met before properties can be assessed for business rates. Those have recently been strengthened, but we will keep them under review.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not provide a specific timeline or concrete plan for the registration or licensing scheme and did not address the loophole between council tax and business rates directly.

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