Blow to second home owners in beautiful British town as council tax soars

Conwy is a beautiful town and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough, North Wales.

It is home to Conwy Castle - part of one of Wales' UNESCO World Heritage Sites - the smallest house in Great Britain, the beautiful Bodnant Garden and pretty Conwy Quay.

But property owners there face new charges as a council tax decision has been made. From next April, owners of second homes and empty homes will be charged a 150 per cent council tax premium.

Owners who have left their property empty for up to five years will be hit with a 200 per cent council tax premium.

Those whose Conwy properties have been empty for five years or more will face a council tax premium of 300 per cent.

Councillor Charlie McCoubrey said: "We are aware that imposing any sort of taxation on people, whether it's council tax or premium council tax, is a very, very serious thing and do a lot of consideration.

"We know we have a housing crisis in Conwy, but we also know we have a housing crisis across the UK. Over the last 14 or 15 years, supply has not kept up with the demand for a variety of reasons.

"The Councillor said he "absolutely supports this policy". He added: "We have been cautious, and it's not gone to 200 per cent - it's gone to 150 per cent.

"I do have sympathy with the people who have to pay this extra, but I have even more sympathy with the homeless. Not having a home is the worst thing.

"Having all these empty homes when we have a housing crisis in Conwy is an issue that has to be addressed, particularly in the rural areas where people are finding it difficult to stay with family or are having to move away when there is no properties available and there is empty homes within that area."

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The Councillor addressed the difficulties of building more properties in Conwy. He explained that national parks in the west "take up about a third of the county".

He added: "We've got a floodplain in the east. We are very constrained by our infrastructure along the A55 corridor, and members will all be acutely aware about issues with the services as we have evidenced in our replacement local development plan about having doctors, dentists, and appropriate roads, etc, so it is a challenge that has been further exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. The number of people that we have a statutory duty to look after has increased."

For information on council tax, Britons can visit GOV.UK for guidance on how council tax works, including working out your council tax, who has to pay, discounts for full-time students, discounts for disabled people, second homes and empty properties, and paying your bill.

In other property news, an expert said that sellers should consider three colours to boost their home's value.