Labour accused of ‘shameful neglect' of retirement home owners
Labour has been accused of 'shameful neglect' of grieving families hit by double council tax bills on retirement homes they have inherited.
Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing minister, criticised the Government for refusing to conduct an impact assessment of the second home council tax raid on retirement developments.
Such properties can only be occupied by owners over the age of 55 and come with high service charges, making them difficult to sell.
It comes after The Telegraph heard from dozens of owners who had been hit with four-figure bills from their local council on the homes they had inherited.
Mr Hollinrake said: 'Those hit by this tax grab are often still grieving the loss of a loved one. Yet heartless Labour ministers show no understanding – or concern – for the emotional and financial strain this imposes.
'They haven't even bothered to carry out an impact assessment. That's a shameful neglect of duty on what is effectively a stealth death tax.
'From the start, Labour's handling of this policy has been careless, clumsy, and callous.'
Mr Hollinrake last week submitted a question in Parliament asking the Government whether it would assess the impact of the second home premium on retirement homes.
But Jim McMahon, Labour minister for local government and English devolution, said it was the responsibility of councils to consider the local impact.
Retirement flats are leasehold properties for the over-55s, which have become notoriously difficult to sell thanks to the age restrictions and high service charges.
As of 2019, there were 730,000 retirement housing units in the UK, according to the Elderly Accommodation Counsel.
However, in recent years, their appeal has dramatically waned due to their hefty service charges, which are payable whether or not the property is lived in. When an owner dies, their immediate family is forced to foot the bill while the home is on the market.
This issue is being compounded by the council tax raid. One 66-year-old reader has been paying £6,000 a year in service charges since 2020, as her mother's retirement flat sits on the market. She has now been hit with a £10,000 double council tax bill.
From April 1, all local authorities in England were given the powers to charge 100pc council tax premiums on second homes in their region.
The Telegraph is calling for the premium to be abolished or reduced.
Dennis Reed, of charity Silver Voices, said: 'The refusal even to consider mitigating measures to prevent hard-to-sell retirement flats from being penalised is another example of how low pensioners are on the Government's policy priority list.
'Such flats are clearly not second homes and this misinterpretation must be outlawed.'
A spokesman for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'We will consult on detailed plans to drive up transparency of service charges and hold landlords to account.
'It is for councils to decide whether to introduce a council tax premium and assess the local impact.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
I'm a Vinted expert and I've worked out exactly when to sell clothes to make the most money
A Vinted seller has shared her number one tip for quickly and efficiently selling your pre-loved clothes. UK-based mother and Vinted enthusiast Rachael, who goes by @RachShops on TikTok, sells second-hand clothing on the online marketplace. If her daughter's clothes no longer fit her, for example, she takes to the app and makes a profit from them, instead of leaving good quality clothes hanging in the wardrobe. But she says the key to selling fast on Vinted is timing - specifically which part of the month you list your items. In fact, Rachel explains, listing items towards the end of the month when most people are getting paid could mean they get snapped up more quickly - as it's 'prime selling time'. In a TikTok video posted towards the end of the month, Rachael said: 'This is my most popular Vinted selling tip - the plan is part of a strategy.' Holding up a tub of spring and summer clothes, Rachael said she planned to list them all on Vinted that evening. 'The bigger picture of me doing this tonight is because it's the 27th, it's near the end of the month and most people are getting paid. 'Believe me, this is prime selling time, so I always make sure I list around these days at the end of each month.' Rachael said that, as most people get paid around that time, they have the cash to spend. 'And they will be spending it on Vinted as well,' she said. The avid seller also offered some other timing tricks that she swears by for best results on the app. Rachael advised to make sure that clothes are being sold seasonally in order to maximise sales, for example when listing items during the spring and summer. 'Always think about that when you're listing stuff,' Rachael continued. 'Just make sure it's relative to the time of year and what people are actually looking to buy.' Rachael said that having suitable mailing bags already on hand saves both time and money, and prevents you from rushing at the last minute. 'The thing I would highly recommend you do if you are a Vinted seller is have mailing bags ready before you list anything so you're organised and prepared. Rachael says it all comes down to timing - and listing your items at the end of the month lines up with most people's paydays 'You should have mailing bags to start with - it saves the stress, first of all, of knowing what to package it up in. 'Second of all, you can post it really quickly, helping towards your positive feedback and good reviews.' And Rachael urged sellers to post their items quickly, for the simple reason that you'll 'get your money' faster as a result. Bu the successful seller is not the first to share her useful hacks for making the most of the app. Another secondhand online clothes seller who has made thousands of pounds on Vinted previously revealed her top tips for sales success. Maisie, who is from Yorkshire, searches cat boot sales, charity shops and online pre-loved websites for cheaply-priced garments with a high resale value. Although it started off as a side hustle, Maisie made reselling her full time career last year after earning £18,000 from flogging clothes. Now, she has helped others by telling them how they too can make a wage from the app - and according to her, it's very simple. Maisie said: 'I absolutely love buying on Vinted to resell on Vinted. It's so easy and it just goes to show the difference that a good quality picture with good lighting and a good background can honestly make.' She says that you should always list similar clothes sizes at the same time on Vinted, as people may browse your page and find other items that they like, resulting in more sales. 'They're more likely to get their money's worth by buying a bundle from you so it will boost your sales and your profit at the same time,' Maisie added. 'You're only having to ship out one parcel and the buyer is only having to pay one lot of postage and fees.'
Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK to invest 200 million pounds in Acorn carbon capture project in Scotland
LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Britain will invest 200 million pounds ($272 million) in the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Scotland, the government said on Thursday, fleshing out details of funding for the technology announced in a spending review on Wednesday. Britain has a climate target to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and has said CCS will be needed to curb emissions from energy-intensive industrial sectors. Acorn, being developed by Storegga, Shell UK (SHEL.L), opens new tab, Harbour Energy (HBR.L), opens new tab and North Sea Midstream Partners, in St Fergus, Scotland, will capture carbon dioxide emissions from industry and store them under the North Sea. "This vital support will enable the critical work needed to reach Final Investment Decision (FID) and marks a major step forward — not only for Acorn, but for the development of Scotland's CCS infrastructure and the growth of a UK-wide carbon capture and storage industry," Tim Stedman, CEO of Storegga, said in an emailed statement. The government said it would also back the Viking CCS project in the Humber region, in the north of England, without specifying how much it would receive. "This (funding) will support industrial renewal in Scotland and the Humber with thousands of highly-skilled jobs at good wages to build Britain's clean energy future," Britain's energy minister, Ed Miliband, said in a release from Britain's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Once operational, the two projects could capture up to 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, the government said. The funding is part of 9.4 billion pounds the government pledged to carbon capture technology over the spending review period and the 21.7 billion pounds it last year said would be spent on CCS over 25 years. ($1 = 0.7352 pounds)
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
Senior Labour figure comes third in selection contest
A senior Labour politician has come third in a selection for the new Senedd constituency of Afan Ogwr Rhondda, making it harder for him to return at the next Rees, who is the Welsh Parliament's deputy presiding officer, came last in a ballot of members to decide the order of the party's list in the Huw Irranca-Davies came first, while Rhondda's Buffy Williams was placed three of the six seats in any given area would require roughly around 36% of the vote - the most recent Wales-wide opinion poll put Labour at 18%. Rees told BBC Wales the group of three "strongly believe that it's possible to get three seats" in the constituency. Rees has been MS for Aberavon since 2011 and deputy presiding officer for the past four Labour have declined to comment on their party's selection procedures. The seat is one of 16 constituencies for the enlarged Welsh Parliament, spanning Port Talbot, the Rhondda and the Llynfi, Garw and Ogmore year's parliament will elect its politicians through a system of party lists. The better a party does, the more people on its list will become Members of the Senedd (MSs), with politicians elected in the order they are placed on that a party gets enough votes for three seats, then the three top placed individuals will be elected. If there's enough for two, then the two will become MSs. In total six MSs will be elected in each seat from across the parties drop in the polls since the general election has raised questions as to whether the party can win three seats in some of its Welsh heartlands, with both Plaid Cymru and Reform performing well in new system has also created a dilemma for all established Senedd political parties over whether to allow existing MSs privileged positions on party lists, and how exactly to do Labour, which had a large number of Senedd members elected under the old first past the post system, some politicians have been competing for prime spots on constituency Cymru fully opened its selection contests, leading to former leader Adam Price coming third in Sir Gaerfyrddin. Rees is a former school teacher, lecturer and assistant dean of faculty at the former Swansea Metropolitan University, and has chaired several committees in the Senedd."All three of us will be fighting very hard because we strongly believe it is possible to get three seats in that new constituency," Mr Rees told BBC Wales."We need to ensure that the message is given to people about how we are working on their behalf and what the Welsh government is delivering."Asked if the polling made that difficult, he said: "Yes, the polls today are not the same as what they were 12 months ago."We understand the changes people are seeing, the frustrations people have. But you still have 11 months to go - polls will change between now and then."Huw Irranca-Davies, who topped the list, is the current deputy first minister, leading the administration with Eluned Morgan as part of an uncontested "joint-ticket" last summer. The rural affairs secretary served as a UK government minister when he was an MP during the years that Gordon Brown was prime Williams won the Senedd seat of the Rhondda back from Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood in sources indicated there would have been an angry reaction had Williams, one of Welsh Labour's most high-profile women, missed out in the posted a picture of the three smiling together on the social media network Bluesky. She wrote: "Communities across Afon, Ogwr, Rhondda, were built on hard graft and labour values - stronger together and united against injustice, so I'm pleased to be standing as part of a team who's life's work truly reflect these values in the 2026 Senedd election."Irranca-Davies added: "Looking forward to campaigning with Buffy and David." In Clwyd, it is understood that the former minister Hannah Blythyn has come first in a ballot for the seat of Clwyd, with North Wales MS Carolyn Thomas being placed had a significant role in the crisis around the former first minister Vaughan Gething last year, after he sacked her over a leak of text messages from the pandemic. Blythyn denied having anything to do with it, and went on to attack the then-first minister reporting by Elliw Gwawr
