Wiltshire Lib Dems call for 'second homes' council tax hike

Wiltshire Council is set to lose £3.5 million after central government announced that councils will get a 10% cut in Council Tax Relief funding.

Wiltshire Liberal Democrats are calling on the Conservative administration to end the tax relief given to those rich enough to have second homes and to end tax relief on empty homes.

Jon Hubbard, leader of the Lib Dems on Wiltshire Council stated, "If the Conservative administration fails to end tax relief for the very wealthy on second homes and empty homes, it will be the poor and vulnerable who will feel the effects".

Further to that, the Liberal Democrats are calling for Wiltshire Council to use new powers handed to them by central government to charge 150% council tax on empty homes in Wiltshire.

Jon Hubbard said, "With a nationwide housing shortage, we should be doing everything we can to encourage owners to rent or sell their homes. By doing this, the council would be able to go a long way to filling the gap left by the reduction in central government grants as charging 150% council tax on empty homes in Wiltshire would help raise 307k in a 2 year period and this could mean savings for every council tax payer".