§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many second homes he estimates there are in Scotland at the latest convenient date; and how many of these are owned by people whose principal domicile is in Scotland.
§ Mr. RifkindIt is estimated that there were some 17,300 second homes in Scotland in 1981. Of these, 11,300 (65 per cent.) had owners usually resident in Scotland.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends that an individual who owns a house in England, in which he normally lives, should have any house owned by him in Scotland treated as a second home, for the purposes of the payment of community charge to the local authority in whose area that house is situated.
§ Mr. RifkindThe Green Paper "Paying for Local Government" (Cmnd. 9714) proposes that under the new system second homes, whatever their ownership, should attract a standard charge and suggested that this should be equivalent to two individual community charges. I will shortly be consulting interested bodies on the detailed operational issues, including the question of the definition and treatment of second homes, arising from the introduction of the proposed community charge system.