Beach hut owners on the south coast have questioned the legal basis of classing huts as second homes for the purposes of council tax.
From April, hundreds of owners of the beach side shacks in Mudeford Spit in Dorset will be required to pay full council tax, if plans by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council to re-classify them as holiday homes get the green light.
Cllr Mike Cox, cabinet member for Finance at BCP Council, said the council ‘must use all levers at its disposal to raise funds’.
He added that the beach huts on Mudeford Spit often sell for between £400,000 and £575,000, ‘yet historically, owners have been given discounts on council tax.’
Mudeford Sandbanks Beach Hut Association (MSBHA) criticised the proposals, telling the BBC that the second home rule was being applied to ‘a wooden shed with no mains connections or individual toilet facilities’.
