Second properties

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Inazuma
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 10:17 am
Location: Wells, Somerset

Second properties

Post by Inazuma »

We have one holiday cottage on our farm running well, and we also have a residential cottage. We are thinking about turning it into a holiday cottage too but I can't get any sense out of my local council - talk about exasperating! Nobody can/will tell me the rateable value or what the business rates might be. Council pass to evaluations agency, they pass back to council.

Just like to know if anyone who has more than one holiday property can give me an idea of whether business rates are hugely different from council tax on holiday cottages. Obviously many people have several holiday properties so I would it is realistic business wise but any info or advice would be gratefully received.
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Nemo
Posts: 7062
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

There is a some info out there, but I agree finding it is difficult! Try these for starters: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... NG_v06.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates

The main difference with rates to Council Tax is that you have to pay for refuse collection. One property may be eligible for Small Business Rates Relief.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-r ... ate-relief

As for difference in costs, it really depends, some will lose, some will gain. The only thing to remember is that if you fit the criteria in terms of letting out a property, it's not really an option to choose between rates or Council Tax; it's dictated by whether you let it out for a set number of days, but I'm guessing you should know that if you already run one holiday cottage.

EASCO published some info about this too, so it's always worth joining that.
Giraffe
Posts: 410
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2016 10:10 am
Location: Cornwall, England

Post by Giraffe »

Do you not pay business rates on your current holiday cottage? I found converting from council tax to business rates very straight forward. The VAO did everything for me - I only had to fill in a form which gave details of the property, how it is advertised plus current and projected bookings. The VAO then informed the local authority who calculated payments ( zero in my case due to small business rate rebate). Suggest you talk directly to your area office at the VAO, I found them very helpful and efficient. They kept me informed of progress by phone.

Your problem may be that 2 holiday lets rather than 1 may make you ineligible for small business rate rebate on both. I'm no expert here as I only have 1 holiday let. There has been previous discussion on this forum on this issue which you could search out
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Jonathan
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:17 am
Location: Warwickshire
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Re: Second properties

Post by Jonathan »

Inazuma wrote:We have one holiday cottage on our farm running well, and we also have a residential cottage. We are thinking about turning it into a holiday cottage too but I can't get any sense out of my local council - talk about exasperating! Nobody can/will tell me the rateable value or what the business rates might be. Council pass to evaluations agency, they pass back to council.

Just like to know if anyone who has more than one holiday property can give me an idea of whether business rates are hugely different from council tax on holiday cottages. Obviously many people have several holiday properties so I would it is realistic business wise but any info or advice would be gratefully received.
There can be a small plus for TV licences. I have one that covers our two lets plus us for the same price as a standard licence. There are conditions, like they must be on the same property without a road between them! It's called an hotel licence. I even got a rebate as I hadn't initially realised that it covered us as well!

Jonathan
ianh100
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:37 pm
Location: Sherborne Dorset

Post by ianh100 »

Hi Jonathan,

Interested to hear about the TV license. we have 2 properties that are the 2 sections of the same building. Both on the same piece of land, effectively the 2 semi parts of a building. They are registered separately by the land registry so we currently buy a TV license for each. Would be a nice saving if we could
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Nemo
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Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

I first raised the topic of a hotel TV licence back in 2012. Clearly a thread that needs bumping every year perhaps for newcomers! http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16339
Jonathan
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Post by Jonathan »

ianh100 wrote:Hi Jonathan,

Interested to hear about the TV license. we have 2 properties that are the 2 sections of the same building. Both on the same piece of land, effectively the 2 semi parts of a building. They are registered separately by the land registry so we currently buy a TV license for each. Would be a nice saving if we could
Our two lets are all part of the same old mill that we live in, so it sounds as thought you would qualify for an hotel licence. They gave me a rebate on past years without any quibbling.

Jonathan
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