Spring Budget will help tackle North Devon’s housing crisis, says MP

North Devon’s MP has welcomed the scrapping of tax relief for second home owners in the Spring Budget, which she says will help tackle the region’s housing crisis.

Selaine Saxby was speaking after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced today (Wednesday, March 6) he would be removing the current incentive for landlords to offer short term holiday lets rather than longer term homes by abolishing the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) tax regime.

Ms Saxby said: “This will level the playing field between short term and long term lets and support people to live in and work their local area. This will take effect from April 2025 and draft legislation will be published in due course.

“I recognise for some short term holiday let owners, this is not a welcome piece of news. But we need to rebalance our housing market in North Devon so more families that want to live and work here can do so and we need to free up some of the properties that sit empty for large parts of the year to house local people.

“We have fantastic hotels, campsites, holiday parks as well as short term holiday lets – but we need staff to work in these businesses, as well as our other hospitality businesses to ensure our vital tourism sector continues to thrive.”

In a statement commenting on the budget, which was unveiled to the House of Commons earlier today, Ms Saxby said even if the changes led to 10 homes in Ilfracombe - as an example - becoming full time homes, it would make a real difference to local people desperate to find housing.

She added: “When we reflect on budgets and tax changes, we often look at the big numbers, but we also need to look closer the effective nudges and behavioural changes. These potential 10 families in Ilfracombe will have had their lives dramatically changed for the better.”

Ms Saxby also welcomed the other measures in the Chancellor’s budget, which included a 2p cut to National Insurance, as well as an increase of the VAT threshold for businesses, plus the freeze on alcohol and fuel duties.

She continued: “I was pleased the reduced higher rates of tax reliefs for theatres, orchestras, museums and galleries will be made permanent from 2025 when they were due to expire, which will support our local theatres.

“This was a budget that saw tax cuts but also investments in growth and productivity, and for us here in North Devon hopefully the start of a rebalancing of our housing market with the cancelling of the furnished holiday lets tax regime alongside the cut in capital gains tax.”