Latest news with #DebbiePughJones
The Sun
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
Our posh village is now ghost town strewn with empty homes – we've slashed asking prices by £100k but no-one wants them
STUNNING homes in a charming riverside village are now unsellable, with demand "falling off a cliff" after a tax blitz on second homes. One homeowner was forced to slash £100,000 off the value of her waterside cottage in Cornwall - and still can't sell it. 6 6 6 Debbie Pugh-Jones lowered her asking price three times in 10 months and says the picturesque two-bed home is now priced the same as a small flat in a run-down area of some cities. She lives in the quaint Cornish village of Goland, near the millionaire's playground of Fowey - where Dawn French and Gordon Ramsay have previously owned homes. The 69-year-old listed the home for sale for £400,000 last August believing it would sell quickly as similar homes nearby sold for £425,000 during Covid. She says increased stamp duty brought in nationwide combined with Cornwall Council's decision to double council tax rates on second homes has scared off potential buyers. Tourist hotspots like Cornwall and Wales, a favourite for charming seaside getaways, have been embroiled in a "tax war" in recent years. Residents say they can't afford to buy houses where they grew up as city dwellers snap them all up, only to stay there a fraction of the time when they fancy a get-away. But local businesses say they can't survive without the revenue second home owners and holidaymakers bring in. Debbie warned that the area is in danger of becoming a 'ghost town' due to unsold properties that are now lying vacant. She told The Sun: 'When you come down that much in price you would expect to get a viewing but I've had three in nearly a year. "Nobody at all looked around between November and April. The seaside town of Newlyn in Cornwall has been dubbed as one of the 'coolest' places to relocate 'Double council tax won't affect the very wealthy but it will affect the middle class people wanting to buy a second home.' She added: 'The community is at risk of changing because some of the second home buyers in this village aren't happy to be paying double council tax. 'Around half of the houses in this village are second homes and the rest are retired people, there are very few people working in this village. 'It's making them struggle but even if they wanted to sell they wouldn't be able to. 'People living here used to work in farms and on the boats but all those industries are gone and the village doesn't have a school, it's not near a bus route and it doesn't have any amenities. 'I'm not depriving a first time buyer of a place to live because it's not the sort of house that would suit them.' Travel writer Debbie said she fell in love with the house in the village of Golant at first viewing in 2013 and bought it for £240,000. She used it as her main home and spent £30,000 on renovations. Our beauty spot paradise is being clobbered by '£35 tourist tax' – it's utter insanity & will kill all trade By Maleeha Katib LOCALS in a beloved UK beauty spot have voiced their fears over plans to introduce a nightly tourist tax. The picturesque mountains, limestone caves, and cascading waterfalls of Brecon Beacons have long been a magnet for visitors from around the globe. The Welsh government is planning to roll out a new 'tourist tax' across the nation, which has sparked fears over driving away visitors and the knock-on impact on local trade. The charge, which would be £1.25 per person per night for hotels, B&Bs, and self-catering accommodation, and 75p for campsites, could add £35 for a family of four staying a week in Wales. Critics say this will drive visitors away, crippling the rural economy. Ashford Price from National Showcaves Centre told Sky News: 'In an area like this, all we've got is tourism and farming – there is nothing else. It will be an absolute catastrophe.' But following the death of her mother last year, she decided to move closer to her son and two-year-old grandaughter in Bath, Somerset. She said: 'It had always been my dream to retire to the coast. 'It was the view that attracted me, the river view is nicer than the sea view because it is always changing. 'I paid a premium for it because I paid for the views but straight away I fell in love with it.' At the village pub - The Fisherman's Arms - landlord Nick Budd said second homes were just a fact of life in the village. The 32-year-old said: 'It's a hard one because not all second home owners are the same. "You have the holiday lets which are great for us, because when people come on holiday they want to eat out and drink in the pub. "Then you have the lock up and leave its and they are the ones that kill us. 'The overwhelming outcome of property price rises is young people cannot afford to buy a house in the village and that situation needs addressing. 'But I don't know whether double council tax is the way to do that.' Cornwall Council said it expected double council tax on second homes would raise £24million this financial year. Another UK holiday hotspot warns of tourist tax on all visitors – and urges its neighbour to do the same By Summer Raemason HOLIDAYMAKERS travelling to a major UK destination have been warned they may have to pay a 'visitor tax'. A debate has been sparked over whether or not to introduce a 'Tourist tax' in Cornwall and Devon - but officials say they can "certainly envision" it implemented. It comes as protests were held in Venice after the country imposed a similar fee on short stay visitors. Day-trippers will be charged €5 (£4.30) if visiting the historical Italian centre, the first to bill holidaymakers an entry fee, from today until May 5. Similar talks have also been held in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole as tourists continue to flood the popular hotspots. Now Malcolm Bell, who heads up the tourism board in Devon, said there is a serious conversation to be had over introducing the same policy. As reported by Devon Live, he said: "It is a time to have the debate, not rush into action, engage with people and look at the art of the possible." He added: "We must make sure it is not burdened with administrative costs and helps to manage the situation we are facing and improve it." The same talks are already underway among various organisations in Cornwall from south west coastal paths to National landscapes. It agreed to charge an additional 100 per cent Council Tax premium on second homes from April 1 2025. Neighbours have even been encouraged to dob in those they suspect are second homeowners trying to dodge the extra tax. Cornwall - famous for its stunning coastlines, tranquil views and quaint villages - is the second home capital of England. Last year, it was reported that it has 9,425 properties used as second homes. But soon after the tourist tax introduction on April 1, Cornwall estate agents warned demand for second homes had 'fallen off a cliff' with more people looking to sell than buy. Bradley Start, from Start & Co estate agents in Newquay, said: "They've received these demands for twice as much council tax and that's prompted a lot of people to think about selling.' But Mr Start told the BBC he feared former holiday homes would not be attractive to people trying to get on to the housing ladder. He added: "A two bedroom apartment on a cliffside with a sea view but no amenities is not going to suit a first time buyer for price or what it can offer.' Last year, it was reported that people staying overnight in Liverpool will have to pay the "tourist tax" - which could raise millions each year. Another unlikely city considering a tax on visitors is Nottingham, where the council reckon bringing in a tourist charge could raise £1.7m a year. It says this could be invested in attractions to make Nottingham less about the night-time economy and more of a tourist destination during daylight. The City of Edinburgh Council is also introducing a five per cent visitor levy for overnight guests in paid accommodation from July next year. Meanwhile Manchester adds £1 per room per night for stays within the Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) zone. The Sun has approached Cornwall Council for comment. 6 6 6
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gran knocks £100k off price of Cornish home and STILL can't sell
A homeowner in Cornwall can't sell her 'dream' holiday cottage despite discounting it by £100,000 - thanks to the double tax whammy hitting second home buyers. Debbie Pugh-Jones has lived in Golant near Fowey for 11 years but wants to sell up and move to Bath to be near her grandchildren. The two-bedroom house was worth an estimated £425,000 during Covid but the 69-year-old gran put it on the market last August at £400,000 hoping for a quick sale. The property was valued at £425,000 during Covid (Image: Debbie Pugh-Jones / SWNS) But there has been little interest and the price has gradually been reduced to £325,00 - a 25 per cent reduction - without success. Debbie, a travel writer, says the property market in Cornwall has been decimated by the rise in stamp duty on second homes and a doubling of council tax. She says the community is in danger of becoming a 'ghost town' because of unsold properties that are lying empty. Views across the river (Image: Debbie Pugh-Jones / SWNS) ''People are putting their houses on the market and just can't sell them - the houses are lying empty," she said. 'It's not good for the local economy. Second home owners bring a lot to the economy. ''When they rent out and people come here on holiday, they spend more and eat out more than people who are here permanently. Debbie Pugh-Jones' at her property in Golant (Image: Debbie Pugh-Jones / SWNS) 'I know somebody whose council tax has gone up to £6,000 a year, he wants to sell up because he can't afford that extra tax. 'You're going to end up with a ghost town. The locals try their very best to keep the pub going, especially in the winter, but the pub makes its money in the summer when the tourists come down. ''If that's discouraged, that's going to have an impact on the local economy.' She says she can't leave Cornwall because rising tax and stamp duty on second homes making it impossible for her to sell (Image: Debbie Pugh-Jones / SWNS) Stamp duty on second homes in England rose from three per cent to five per cent in October last year and Cornwall Council introduced 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes in April. Debbie said: 'I put my cottage on the market in August with the aim of moving to the Bath area because my son has a daughter, and I was missing out on her growing up. 'I'm expecting another grandchild now, another girl, and I'm really desperate to move. ''A few years ago I probably would have rented this place out and got another mortgage, but it's the extra stamp duty that's just prohibiting me from doing that now. 'I did think maybe I could buy something in Bath as a second home and get a mortgage. ''But even a house for £400,000 I'll be paying £20,000 stamp duty. It just makes it not viable.' IN PICTURES: A peek inside two of Cornwall's quirkiest homes currently for sale Remaining residents fight to buy pub in village at risk of being 'hollowed out' Cornwall spot that 'isn't your average garden' among best to visit in the UK Her property has now been on the market for nine months with six different estate agents. She said: 'Originally the house went on at £400,000 but it didn't get any interest at all. ''I changed agent, still no interest, no viewings. I went through two more agents, then to a company which said they would try to market to investors. 'I came down in price to £365,000 but still nothing happened. So I decided to put it back on the market with another local agent, she got one viewing for a potential investor but he wasn't interested. 'Another new agent with a shopfront – we're down to £350,000 now –I had viewings from two potential second home owners. Outside the property in Golant (Image: Debbie Pugh-Jones / SWNS) 'A new agent in April said, you know, just forget what happened in the past, we're starting new today. Still not had any viewings and I brought it down to £325,000 last Friday. 'The extra council tax that's been put on definitely hasn't helped the situation, and neither has the extra stamp duty on second homes." The property was a second home before Debbie bought it for £240,000 as her main home 11 years ago and spent £30,000 on renovations. 'Around half of homes in this village are second homes," she explained. "But unlike many places where they're anti second home owners, in this village here we appreciate second home owners. Debbie at her property in Golant (Image: Debbie Pugh-Jones / SWNS) 'The average age here is over 60, it's where people retire and have second homes. There's not a school in walking distance, there's not public transport. 'This sort of policy saying second homes could be suitable for first time buyers, just doesn't add up here. ''Say the average price of a house in this village is probably around £750,000, £800,000–one's gone on the market at £1.9 million. 'I can't really afford to reduce the price anymore given the house prices in the area I want to go to. ''If you take into account how much I bought it for, how much I've spent on it, plus inflation, I'm just going to be well out of pocket on it." Homes that are left empty, defined as unoccupied and substantially unfurnished, for more than a year are also subject to 100 per cent council tax in a move introduced by the government in 2018 to discourage homeowners from leaving property vacant. Buyers who take on an empty property which is already subject to this tax take on the premium. Debbie added: "Second homeowners are feeling very hard done by because, not only are they paying double council tax, they're not using very many of the facilities council tax is supposed to pay for. ''They're paying for bins, roads, and education, and what are they actually getting from the £6000 they're giving Cornwall Council when they're not here all year round? 'Second homeowners are being made to feel almost evil, which is so wrong because they really do contribute to our village.' 'The odd one will get sold but there's quite a few houses in this village that are just sitting empty. ''There's one on my road, the lady died and that's been on the market since last year, that's been reduced from £700,000 into the £600,000s. 'The road below me, there's a house that's been on the market there for maybe two years. It's a problem. These homes are empty now.'
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Slashed prices and desperate sellers: inside Cornwall's flooded second homes market
For the past 11 years, Debbie Pugh-Jones has owned Napier Cottage, a two-bedroom property overlooking a river in the quiet village of Golant near Fowey in Cornwall. 'It was a dream of mine to go and live by the coast, and when I found this cottage, I thought it was perfect,' she says. Lying at the mouth of a deep estuary, close to the open sea, Fowey is a pretty harbour town with narrow streets winding through the town near the water's edge. Counted among some of the Cornish coastline's hotspots, it's long been popular with wealthy second home owners; in the past, this kind of property would have been snapped up. Keen to move nearer to her son in Bath, Pugh-Jones put Napier Cottage on the market last August for £425,000. There were no bites. Since that time, the asking price has been reduced first to £375,000 and now to £350,000. Still, no one has come forward to buy it. 'During Covid, I could have sold it for £440,000. I'm now on my fourth estate agent and, since August, I've only had three viewings and no offers.' She lives in the house full-time, but it would make a perfect holiday home – and therein lies the problem. 'The trouble is that there are just no buyers,' she adds. 'First, there was the general election, then the Budget in the autumn and now all the increased taxes. It's not an expensive house, but the wind is blowing in the wrong direction for second home owners. When I speak to others in the village, a number are thinking of selling up.' Cornwall is sometimes called the 'second home capital of England'. In Poluran, a village close to Pugh-Jones's home, more than half of houses are second homes or holiday rentals, according to research last year from the Lanteglos by Fowey parish council. The attack on second home ownership has come thick and fast in recent months. In last year's Budget, buyers of second homes were hit with a 5pc stamp duty surcharge, up from 3pc. In addition, the furnished holiday lettings tax regime, which gave tax breaks to landlords who rented out fully furnished properties, was removed this year. This means that those properties which once attracted 10pc capital gains tax now meet the standard CGT rate for residential property, currently 24pc. Finally, and perhaps most punitive, Cornwall council (like others) now makes second home owners pay double council tax, a move that was also introduced in April. (There is a 12-month exemption for those actively marketed for sale or let, which some experts have suggested is a loophole that homeowners are using to avoid the tax rise.) 'Flooded market' Justin Knight is a senior valuer at The Property Shop, the estate agency in Fowey that is marketing Napier Cottage. It has two other offices in mid-Cornwall: Bodmin and Lostwithiel. While those two are operating in a normal market – that is, neither location is dominated by holiday homes – it is in Fowey where properties are not selling. The same is true in two other holiday home favourites: St Ives and Carbis Bay, says Vicky Jones, of estate agent Keller Williams. She describes a 'marked increase' in the number of second homes and holiday properties coming to the market. Kevin James, of Bradleys estate agents, says supply is up 22pc since May 2024. He believes that Cornwall's property market is entering a new phase as tax reforms 'begin to reshape the second home landscape'. Many agree. 'Fowey is a pretty sailing town, not a working fishing port which functions throughout the year, and the impact has been noticeable since the measures were announced last year,' says Knight. 'People who paid 'Covid prices', when the rush from towns and cities that saw prices here leap in some cases by up to 20pc, are reluctant or can't afford to sell at today's values. And now that the market is flooded with houses for sale, there's a double knock-on impact.' Figures from Rightmove show that properties in Fowey take five more days to sell this year compared to 2024, and that prices have slipped 1.5pc in the last year. Truro-based estate agent Ian Lillicrap of Lillicrap Chilcott keeps a keen eye on second home hotspots both within and beyond his patch, including the Cotswolds. 'The market is flooded in all the obvious areas. It's clear that many who bought properties to rent as holiday homes took out mortgages when rates were low and when they could offset the costs against returns.' Interest rates since then have of course risen, and now they face lower demand and much higher costs. 'They've had a culture shock and a rude awakening.' 'Fabulous bargains' This fall in demand has mainly hit the middle of the market; those at the top end can afford to wait it out – and pay the increased council tax. Jonathan Cunliffe, who runs his own agency, says at the top end of the market it's back to normal after the frenzy of the pandemic. 'There aren't many owners who need to sell at any cost. Most will wait until the market recovers, so it's difficult to see a complete collapse in prices.' James says that while those who relied on tax efficiencies to make ownership viable are selling up, those prepared to weather 'short-term policy headwinds' will continue to invest. It is properties valued between £250,000 and £700,000 that have seen the highest drop in enquiries, says Philip Norgan of Smart Estate Agent in Penryn. Some clients are adjusting their prices, but others are holding firm 'because they can't afford to go as low as necessary'. Lillicrap says there was a flurry of properties looking to exchange before the changes came in at the end of March, with a particular keenness from those in 'old money' areas such as Rock in north Cornwall. Some of these owners have had the house in the family since the 1960s and have seen a huge gain in value in the intervening years. A house that was worth tens of thousands might now be several million, attracting a significant tax bill in its wake. Figures from Lillicrap Chilcott paint a picture of how the market has shifted. Of the last 60-odd properties sold since early April, 66pc have been to local buyers moving within Cornwall. In 2022, that figure was 50pc. Second home buyers have dropped from 25pc in 2022 to just 14pc. 'As I see it, those buying a second home with their head rather than heart will find it a lot less attractive than it was 18 months ago,' says Lillicrap. For those with the means to buy, vendors are ready to sell. Lillicrap has just taken on a two-bedroom apartment by the marina in Port Pendennis in Falmouth. 'The owner said that only a few weeks ago she would have asked £600,000, but as she's in tune with what's happened across the nation, she's putting it on the market for £499,950,' he says. 'There are some fabulous bargains to be had,' adds Clare Coode, of buying agent Stacks Property Search. 'Canny agents are aware of this, and I have never seen more off-market opportunities than I have this spring.' At the top end of the market, buyers are enjoying what Josephine Ashby of John Bray Estates calls 'a rare abundance of choice and a selection of property that may not reappear on the market for generations' as owners reduce prices. And people are still buying, such as those who snapped up an off-market clifftop property in Polzeath on the first viewing.
