Mudeford and Hengistbury beach huts to be reclassified as second homes under new council tax rules
Owners of some of Britain’s most expensive beach huts face a doubling of their council tax bills after plans to treat the properties as second homes in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP).
According to a Times report, BCP Council intends to remove the 50% council tax discount currently applied to 344 huts at Mudeford Spit and Hengistbury Head from April, by designating them as second homes for rating purposes. Annual bills of about £750 are expected to rise to around £1,500 based on published 2025-26 council tax levels, with 2026-27 charges still to be confirmed.
Councillors estimate the move would generate about £211,000 a year and contribute to closing a funding gap of £9 million. The proposal remains subject to approval by the full council.
The huts, which typically measure 20.25 square metres, are among the priciest in the country. Asking prices have exceeded £575,000 in some cases, and one unit changed hands for £485,000 in 2024 within 24 hours of listing. By comparison, the average selling price for a home in Christchurch over the past year was £432,601, according to Rightmove.
Council figures indicate that only about one in three huts is owned by residents of the local authority area, with many instead used as holiday lets and advertised on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb.
Under the plans, the huts would be classified as class A second homes, which carry an occupancy restriction of no more than 28 consecutive days at a time. This category attracts full council tax but is not subject to the 100% premium applied to class B second homes, which have no such occupancy limits.
Second homes have become an important revenue source for authorities under pressure from rising costs and constrained government support. Since April 2025, English councils have been permitted to charge a 100% council tax premium on second homes under legislation introduced by Michael Gove, the former Conservative housing secretary, two years earlier. Around 71% of councils applied the higher rate immediately.
The Times said that a further 38 English councils plan to introduce the premium from this April, with more due to follow in 2027, leading to doubled council tax bills for as many as 12,300 second home owners.
Devolved administrations have gone further. In Wales, councils can impose premiums of up to 300% on second homes, while authorities in Scotland face no statutory ceiling on the level of surcharge they may apply.
For brokers active in coastal and holiday-let markets, higher council tax will erode net yields and may push some clients to reassess affordability or refinance terms. Lenders may tighten ICR and stress-test assumptions for huts and similar second homes. Advisers are expected to have more conversations about exit plans, switching to longer lets, or diversifying portfolios away from high-premium local authority areas.
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