Britain's snootiest resort Frinton-on-Sea doubles council tax for second home owners in bid to help locals get on property ladder

Second home owners in one of Britain's snootiest resorts will have to pay up to double their council tax next year in a bid to help locals get on the property ladder.

Amid growing controversy about property in tourist hot-spots being used as second homes or holiday let, one Essex council has voted to introduce a 100% levy on owners who don't live full-time in their homes.

The move, approved by Tendring District Council, will hit seaside towns including Frinton-on-Sea, where seafront homes now cost more than a million pounds.

Frinton is famously exclusive - it only opened its first pub 20 years ago and its first fish and chip shop in 1992. The town hit headlines in August 2020, when councillors banned ice cream sellers and other traders from its promenade.

At the time, irate councillors insisted an influx of staycationers caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions had wreaked havoc on their sleepy seaside town, with bad parking and other antisocial behaviour.

Frinton councillors urged people who wanted the 'razzmatazz 'and a raucous day at the beach to visit neighbouring resorts like Walton-on-the Naze and Clacton-on-Sea.

In 2016, Tendring - the council area which covers all three towns - was voted the best district to live in the UK.

Tendring located in the north of the county mocked for its proliferation of tanning salons and nail bars, boasts a number of pretty seaside towns in its council area .

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the area has the biggest ‘pull’ in the country. It has seen the biggest net inflow, in percentage terms, of any place in the UK over a decade.

For every 1,000 people who moved in between 2005 and 2015, only 773.8 people moved out.

Councillors in Tendring have now approved plans to double the council tax on properties that are not lived in full-time by the owners - either used as second homes or holiday lets.

New legislation allows councils to put a premium on the council tax bill of homes which are occupied 'periodically' - often second homes from 1 April next year.

It follows criticisms that soaring prices in fashionable coastal communities in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk have pushed housing far out of the reach of locals.

In the picturesque village of Blakeney, Norfolk, more than 90 of the properties are now holiday lets.

The council agreed on Tuesday night to introduce the maximum premium of 100 per cent from the 2025/26 financial year - meaning owners of second homes will pay double the council tax on the property.

Councillors also agreed to apply the maximum 100% premium on homes that have been empty for more than a year - another change introduced by new legislation and used to mean that homes had to be empty for two years before a premium could be applied.

But the council has agreed to keep the existing council tax discount schemes, including relief for those in hardship, or on low income.

Council leader Mark Stephenson insisted the Local Council Tax Support Scheme and premiums were important. 

He said: 'Putting additional charges on empty homes encourages property owners to bring these buildings back into use, helping to tackle the housing need we face in Tendring and to prevent sites falling derelict and becoming eyesores.

'Meanwhile premiums on second homes mean those who visit the Essex coast for only part of the year can support our local services year-round.

'It also encourages owners who do not use them to free up the property for local residents - particularly young people who may feel forced to leave the district.

'But we will continue to support the most vulnerable by providing relief on their council tax bill;. Council tax is hugely important as an income which allows us to deliver services to our residents.

'This year it means an average cost of just 52p per day for households - but it is important this is tempered with support for those who are struggling financially.'

Frinton is covered by a list of restrictions known locally as 'The ten Commandments' which including a ban on coaches and no ball games allowed on the prom.