Just over two years ago, Wales gave councils the powers to massively increase council tax on second homes. If you were to read recent headlines, you would think this was a disaster.
“Fury,” said the Express. A “botched” policy that is “in tatters” after “£30k off house prices” lamented the Telegraph. Indeed, these publications are correct: the changes have led to something of an exodus of some second-home owners. What the titles seem to have missed, however, was that this was the point.
