A council has unveiled plans to raise more money from holiday property owners, after it emerged many were not paying for their waste to be collected.
A report from Ryedale District Council says that while ordinary households contribute to the cost of waste collection and disposal by paying council tax and businesses pay for waste collection, the authority plans to raising some additional £94,000 this year from holiday rental owners, some of whom have not paid anything to have rubbish and recycling removed.
The officer’s report to a Ryedale Policy and Resources Committee meeting on Thursday says that after councilors raised concerns in June, the authority found that of the 553 holiday rentals in the district , only 255 or 46% had a contract for their waste collection with the council.
The report states: “It is essential that the council has robust procedures in place to ensure that it meets its legal obligations for domestic waste collection and only provides commercial waste collections to businesses that have a contract with the board.
“Due to the waste generated by a holiday rental being very similar to the waste generated by a residential domestic dwelling, the standard household waste collection service is provided to holiday rentals that have a commercial waste contract with the municipality.”
Councilors will learn during the Covid pandemic that there has been a 37 per cent increase in the number of properties in Ryedale, some 189, which have moved from property classed as domestic to business, meaning they no longer have to pay housing tax.
The spike was attributed to growing demand for home stays, the rise of AirBnB accommodations and the business subsidy program. The report says a loophole that allows second home owners to escape both business rates and council tax on a furnished holiday rental will be closed when the new legislation comes into force on April 1. The government is currently requesting evidence to establish a vacation rental registration system as part of its leveling program given the significant increase in vacation rentals during Covid.
Alongside this, councilors believe North Yorkshire County Council’s decision to double council tax charges for second homes across the county could prompt more owners to classify them as holiday rentals.
However, Ryedale Council said it had already put in place a crackdown on the issue, sending all new company-listed holiday properties details explaining their waste responsibilities, while allowing their waste collection teams identify and report suspicious properties.
At the meeting councilors will be asked to confirm a flat waste collection fee for holiday rentals from April to ‘raise awareness and improve the promotion of the council’s commercial waste collection service to landlords’ vacation rentals”. The holiday rental fee funding will be used in part to ensure the council has a “strong and ongoing enforcement capacity” to check the system is not being abused.
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