RISHI Sunak’s £800 handout to second homeowners via the energy rebate is rewarding the destruction of communities, it has been claimed.
Despite protests, second homeowners will receive at least double the £400 energy rebate announced by the Chancellor, meaning a total of £620m will be handed out to people who have more than one house.
Of the 772,000 households who are eligible for the cash, around 61,000 own three properties in the UK and are eligible for a rebate of £1200.
The official number of second homes in Scotland is just under 24,000, according to the latest figures, and many are concentrated in rural areas, forcing up prices for local people and adding to the housing crisis in places like Skye and Tiree, where 46% of the homes are empty for most of the year.
“The Government’s rebate gives money to those who are not living locally nor heating their houses, while those that live on Tiree suffer,” said Meg Bishop, secretary of tenants’ union Living Rent.
“The second rebate combined with a continued exemption from council tax proves how second home ownership deprives neighbours of resources and community.
“That second home owners are entitled to twice the energy rebate is just another sign of how the Government prioritises the interests of landlords and those with second homes over tenants and low-income earners.”
Bishop said the handout demonstrated a “continued refusal” to engage with the effects that the energy crisis is having on many people’s lives.
“On Shetland, energy bills are set to rise by over £1500 to an average of £3246 per household,” she pointed out. An energy rebate of £400 clearly does not begin to address the energy rise for tenants and low-income households.
“A rebate for second homeowners rewards the destruction of communities and fails to acknowledge the scale of the issue for tenants and low-income families. Such an energy policy demonstrates whose interests the Government serves.”
Although the rebate is UK Tory Government policy, she said the Scottish Government could help by further investing in green refurbishment and by forcing landlords to improve homes.
Martainn Mac A’Bhaillidh, of Gaelic campaign group Misneachd Alba, said the energy rebate was only adding to the suite of supports and broader financial incentives for wealthy people with multiple properties.
He said: “As usual, the wealthy are designing policies to help those with money keep it.
“There is a housing crisis, and young people are being forced into overpriced rental accommodation, with little hope of getting on the property ladder themselves.
“Rent farming of our young people, and those on lower incomes, is not an industry the Government should be subsidising. Owning more than one property is a choice and a luxury and should be treated as such by the Government.”
In Scotland, the number of short-term rentals is continuing to rise.
Skye is one of the worst-hit areas with nearly a fifth (18.6%) of the housing comprising short-term lets.
While the average rent in Scotland is £628pm it is £916pm on Skye, a figure that reflects the shortage of available long-term rents.
The high rents do not reflect incomes, with the median wage for people on Skye £1824 below the national average.
SNP MP Angus MacNeil said the Tory policy showed it was “past time” that the Scottish Government moved on independence legislation.
“There are about 60,000 people with three homes in the UK who will get this benefit from the Chancellor yet even with so many people in poverty because of the Tories, a third child does not get children’s allowance from this Government for food and clothing,” he said.
