Whitehall officials have warned that Wales could raise stamp duty for buyers of holiday properties and therefore depress the price of second homes under plans to devolve tax-raising powers.
The Treasury is considering giving the Welsh Government the power to raise its own stamp duty but a consultation document warns it could have unintended consequences for the housing market.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
We say: I remember two things from the Welsh Nats’ unrest of the 1970s. One was the parody of the coal advert of the time: “Come home to a living fire: buy a cottage in Wales”. The other was a slogan painted on a bridge just outside Builth Wells reading “Free Wales” – to which some wag had added “with every 4 gallons”.
It’s always tricky, this second home business. Are evil second homers pricing locals out of the market? Or are they introducing much-needed capital and spending power to bolster the economies of what might otherwise be even more depressed areas of the UK? Our advice to the Welsh government? Be careful what you wish for.
