Campaigners opposed to North Yorkshire Council’s double council tax charge on second homes have handed in a petition signed by 1,000 people calling for the premium to be suspended.
Members of SHOUT (Second Homeowners Opposed to Unfair Taxation) delivered the petition to the council on Friday.
They argue that the authority should halt the policy until it has carried out a full assessment and consultation.
North Yorkshire Council introduced the 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes in April 2025 in a bid to help tackle the county’s housing shortage and encourage more properties to become permanently occupied.
However, SHOUT, which was started in Filey but now has members from across North Yorkshire, claims the council failed to consult second-home owners and other affected groups before introducing the policy.
The group argues that councils should consider the impact on businesses, local services, the wider economy and which properties should be included before implementing such a premium.
Campaigners say the petition demonstrates widespread concern over the policy’s impact, despite SHOUT having around 150 members.
The group claims the premium has failed to deliver any meaningful increase in housing for local people while causing second-home values to fall and affecting the wider property market.
SHOUT’S Chris Hall, organiser of the petition, said:
“Its effects have been disastrous without any tangible benefits to local housing needs, this being evident from the drop in second home prices with a knock-on effect on all property prices.”
SHOUT also argues the extra council tax has reduced spending in local communities, with owners of cafés, bars, restaurants and shops among those signing the petition after experiencing a decline in trade.
The petition calls on North Yorkshire Council to suspend the premium until a full consultation has been completed and to refund the additional council tax paid by second-home owners during the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years.
North Yorkshire Council voted to keep its 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes in April, a year after first introducing the policy.
Commenting on the petition, Councillor Carl Les, leader of the authority, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, that he believed his authority did everything correctly when it introduced the policy.
He added:
“This is one of the solutions that we have come up with to address a problem that has been around for a lot of years.
“In some area it’s becoming a crisis for young families who can’t afford not just to buy their own property, but even to rent their own property.
“We know that there are communities, not just in Filey and not just on the coast, but in other parts of North Yorkshire where if you go on a Wednesday night in the middle of winter, you won’t see a light on in the majority of houses because they are not lived in, so we’re trying to address the problem.
“And we’re the only council in England that has pledged that the money that we raise through the second homes premium — and it could be up to £12m a year — we will spend it on housing initiatives.”
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