Paul and Sophie Frampton moved from England to West Wales to buy a trio of holiday cottages they rent out to tourists, but they could now be forced to sell after being slapped with an £8,000 ta demand.
A couple who quit the rat race for an idyllic rural existence renting small cottages to holiday makers in Wales say they could be forced out of business by a government tax raid on second home owners that shouldn't apply to them.
The news that turned their world upside down came last week when Paul received a letter from the Valuation Office Agency informing him that their business, Crug Yr Eryr Isaf Holiday Cottages, in Talgarreg, Ceredigion, had been switched to domestic council tax rates 19 months earlier. A new assessment of the way business rates were calculated means they will have to pay around £150 per month, per cottage, meaning £450 altogether at domestic rates.Stringent new rules - intended to reduce the number of second home owners driving up property prices - mean each cottage has to be separately rented a minimum 182 nights a year to qualify for cheaper business rates, up from a previous 120, a level the business managed to reach.
Empty-home syndrome can blight rural areas, ripping the heart out of communities and creating ghost villages. 'It didn't seem too positive. They don't have any power to change this, it comes from the Valuation Office Agency. 'We've put central heating into the cottages. Renovated them. Put in so much effort. We haven't had a holiday since we've been here.'Keeping it going is a full-time job seven days a week. We only take Christmas off. That's it.
Read More Revealed: The eight most unwelcoming places to buy a second home in the UK 'You wouldn't be able to sell or rent them as residences - so it's a nonsense to target them.'Paul said: 'I suppose we both wanted something more. To avoid a 30-minute commute to Tesco, which was only half a mile away from where we lived.
In little more than three years, they have transformed it all into a thriving rural business, with an organic vegetable garden, an orchard, and given sanctuary to a menagerie of rescued donkeys, rare pig breeds, cats, dogs and chickens.
'What I don't understand is how the Government can just decide, apparently on a whim, that the cottages are now residential properties, subject to council tax, not a business, at all. Apparently. 'There's simply not enough demand to fill each cottage for a minimum 182 days a year. Changing the rules and then telling us we are no longer a business seems insane.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'She was about the future rather than the past' - Looking back on SOPHIE's pop legacyLooking back on the legendary pop artist SOPHIE, to celebrate her posthumous album SOPHIE
Read more »
Jake Quickenden's wife Sophie shows off bare baby bump as couple holiday in UAEJake Quickenden's wife Sophie looked sensational as she showed off her bare baby bump while soaking up the sun on holiday in the UAE, with fans calling the mum-to-be 'gorgeous'
Read more »
Sir Paul McCartney helps couple get engaged on stage during soundcheckSir Paul McCartney helped a couple get engaged on stage during a soundcheck ahead of a sold-out show in Chile.
Read more »
Paul Mescal And Gracie Abrams Enter Into The Couple Style CanonIf Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams once looked as though they could have been shopping from the same retailers, they soon started looking as though they shopped from the same closet.
Read more »
Sir Paul McCartney takes couple up on life changing promiseThe former Beatle is currently on his 'Got Back' tour
Read more »
Tiernan Lynch hopes Carl Frampton words help Larne land KO blow in EuropeCarl Frampton spoke to Larne's players ahead of their European showdown with Shamrock Rovers
Read more »