An activist is calling for council tax premiums on second homes to be increased by as much as 400%, alongside the introduction of compulsory purchase powers for land needed to build new homes.
Ailsa Raeburn, who chairs a group named Community Land Scotland, argues that radical changes are essential, particularly to help create more permanent housing in the Highlands and Islands.
In a statement to *The Scotsman*, Raeburn explained: “We have businesses, local and global, wanting to invest and grow in the Highlands and Islands. We have a beautiful place to live with a great quality of life. We have more and more of our own young people wanting to build their lives here. So what’s the problem? It’s housing.”
The Scottish Government has granted local authorities the power to impose a council tax premium of up to 200% on second properties. While this offers a significant opportunity to address the growing housing crisis, Ailsa Raeburn, chair of Community Land Scotland, believes the premium should go even further. She advocates for a gradual increase in the premium over the next five to ten years, suggesting it could rise to as high as 300% or even 400%. Raeburn argues that such a drastic step is necessary to effectively address the housing shortage, particularly in areas like the Highlands and Islands.
Raeburn stresses that the use of taxation should be a driving force for change, especially in relation to second home ownership. The taxation of second homes, she suggests, could play a pivotal role in reshaping the local housing market by encouraging property owners to reconsider their investment strategies. In her view, higher council tax rates would make it financially less attractive for people to hold onto second properties that remain largely unoccupied for most of the year, ultimately freeing up more homes for local residents.
Historically, council tax revenue generated from second homes was ring-fenced and reinvested back into the community to fund affordable housing initiatives. However, Raeburn highlights that this practice has since been altered, and she believes it should be reinstated to ensure that the revenue generated from these properties is put to good use. The money raised through higher taxes could be directly channelled into building more affordable homes, helping to alleviate the pressures faced by local communities.
One of the key concerns raised by Raeburn is the negative impact that second home ownership is having on the availability of housing in areas where demand is already high. She points to regions like the Highlands and Islands, where many homes are being used as second residences or holiday rentals, leaving local families struggling to find suitable accommodation. Raeburn is calling for a solution that addresses this issue, with the aim of increasing the availability of permanent homes for people who live and work in these areas.
To tackle this problem, Raeburn suggests that taxation could be used as a means of incentivising second home owners to either sell their properties or make them available for long-term rent. This, she believes, would allow these homes to be brought back into permanent use, helping to ease the pressure on the local housing market. By using tax policies to influence property owners’ decisions, Raeburn hopes to encourage more sustainable living arrangements, ultimately benefiting local communities and supporting the creation of more affordable housing in the process.
Ailsa Raeburn is also advocating for the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to seize land for housing development, a move she believes could address the growing housing shortage. Raeburn argues that the current CPO legislation, which was originally designed for large-scale infrastructure projects like roads and rail schemes, needs to be adapted for smaller-scale developments, particularly those on the outskirts of towns and villages. She points out that CPOs, as they are currently written, are not well-suited for acquiring smaller plots of land for housing, and that a new approach is needed.
According to Raeburn, the CPO process needs to be streamlined to make it quicker and more efficient, allowing for faster progress in bringing land forward for development. She emphasises that landowners should not be able to hold local authorities to ransom when it comes to selling land for housing. Currently, she says, landowners often capitalise on the interest shown by local authorities in acquiring land, pushing up the asking price to a point where development projects become unviable.
The result of this behaviour, Raeburn argues, is that valuable land sits unused, with the potential to build much-needed homes left untapped. This, she believes, is an unreasonable situation, with landowners’ inflated expectations preventing the development of affordable housing. By using CPOs more effectively, local authorities would be able to take control of land that is crucial for meeting housing demand, rather than being held back by the reluctance of private landowners to sell at a fair price.
Raeburn’s call for a more adaptable and efficient CPO process is part of a wider push for radical housing reform, particularly in areas where land is in high demand. She suggests that with the right legislative changes, CPOs could become a key tool in addressing the housing crisis, helping to deliver new homes more quickly and ensuring that land is used for the benefit of the wider community rather than for the financial gain of a few landowners.
Ultimately, Raeburn’s goal is to create a more balanced and fair housing market, where local authorities have the power to acquire land for development without being hampered by unreasonable land prices. In her view, the success of such schemes would not only ease the pressure on the housing market but also provide more affordable options for those in need of a permanent home.
“It is about introducing some more realism and changing the negotiating position so that schemes can go ahead and you don’t get landowners just sort of turning their face and saying ‘if you don’t pay me £50,000 I am not selling it or ‘I am going to take you to court’”.
You can read The Scotsman piece here: https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/council-tax-on-second-homes-should-rise-up-to-400-to-help-tackle-highland-housing-crisis-4867947
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