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- 27 Jan 2008
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I do wonder about this second home thing, fair enough don't want people stopping in caravan and similar holiday accommodation, in the main they are in camps of some type, which means near impossible to social distance, but if some one has a second house, and is paying 40% surcharge on council tax as a second home, and the home is really a home not a holiday shack, why the heck should they not use it? OK should not be travelling between them, but even that, there are some reasons.
As it happens my son is using my second home to isolate from rest of family so I have no intention to travel from Mid Wales to North Wales to our other house, is was to be sold, and we were doing regular trips before lock down to transfer our furniture etc. Our plans to sell it have had to be put on hold, and since son is living in it not problem with maintenance and collecting mail, we are lucky we can be sure house OK without visiting.
However there must be people who are in the middle of a move like us who don't have a family member who can move into one property, one has a year to sell second home before you get the 40% surcharge, I seem to remember I can leave the property for 3 weeks under insurance rules, but over that time insurance becomes void.
As it stands to use a click and collect I have to travel 50 miles, in my other house click and collect 5 miles, so had my son not be living there, there would be a good reason to swap which is our main residence. But other house is a semi, so exercise would mean walking around the estate, here detached, so I can walk round and round the house, no need to use public road for exercise, so prefer to be here.
But if some one like me owns two houses why should they be told they can't use one? OK I can see saying make your mind up and no travelling between them all the time, if Scotland's chief medical officer mistake or not can travel over an hour between to homes, why should anyone else not do the same? Will Boris go to Checkers? If he does then everyone else should be able to use a second home.
As it happens my son is using my second home to isolate from rest of family so I have no intention to travel from Mid Wales to North Wales to our other house, is was to be sold, and we were doing regular trips before lock down to transfer our furniture etc. Our plans to sell it have had to be put on hold, and since son is living in it not problem with maintenance and collecting mail, we are lucky we can be sure house OK without visiting.
However there must be people who are in the middle of a move like us who don't have a family member who can move into one property, one has a year to sell second home before you get the 40% surcharge, I seem to remember I can leave the property for 3 weeks under insurance rules, but over that time insurance becomes void.
As it stands to use a click and collect I have to travel 50 miles, in my other house click and collect 5 miles, so had my son not be living there, there would be a good reason to swap which is our main residence. But other house is a semi, so exercise would mean walking around the estate, here detached, so I can walk round and round the house, no need to use public road for exercise, so prefer to be here.
But if some one like me owns two houses why should they be told they can't use one? OK I can see saying make your mind up and no travelling between them all the time, if Scotland's chief medical officer mistake or not can travel over an hour between to homes, why should anyone else not do the same? Will Boris go to Checkers? If he does then everyone else should be able to use a second home.
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