French resort to hike taxes on second-homes by 60 percent
The French government has given local authorities in areas where there is a housing shortage the power to increase taxes on second-homes in order to fund more affordable housing for locals - and one commune has announced a 60 percent tax hike.
The French Mediterranean glamour resort of Saint-Tropez hopes to raise €3 million a year for new local housing by increasing the taxe d’habitation on second homes by 60 percent from next year.
Mayor Sylvie Siri has seized the opportunity offered by a new government decree to increase the taxe d’habitation bills of holiday home owners who spend only part of the year in the resort town in an effort to tempt locals back into an area they had been priced out of by building new, more affordable, homes.
She told Le Parisien that the median price of a property in Saint-Tropez had reached €16,000 per square metre because of demand from cash-rich "outsiders" who wanted a summer bolthole in the sun, with the result that the town had lost 40 percent of its permanent inhabitants.
"If it goes on like this, no young person will be able to find a place to live in Saint-Tropez", Siri said.
The government is gradually phasing out tax d'habitation - the householders' tax - for everyone apart from high earners, but second-home owners are still required to pay it.
This year a new tax declaration must be completed by all property owners in France - including second-home owners who live outside France - declaring whether the property is a main residence or a second home.
READ ALSO Your questions answered on French property tax declaration
Separately to this, the government has also given local authorities in areas that are a zone tendue (an area with a housing shortage) the power to increase taxe d'habitation for second-home owners bu up to 60 percent.
Authorities in Saint-Tropez have gone for the maximum increase because of the severe shortage of affordable housing in the town. Today, only 3,850 people live in the town all year round - meaning a resort that’s overcrowded in the summer is virtually deserted in the winter.
The estimated €3 million expected to be raise annually from 2024 via the new tax will first be used to finance new housing for local people, said the mayor, who hopes to build around 100 new homes in the area over the next five years.
Property experts have said the move is unlikely to dissuade rich second-home owners from the prestigious resort.
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The French Mediterranean glamour resort of Saint-Tropez hopes to raise €3 million a year for new local housing by increasing the taxe d’habitation on second homes by 60 percent from next year.
Mayor Sylvie Siri has seized the opportunity offered by a new government decree to increase the taxe d’habitation bills of holiday home owners who spend only part of the year in the resort town in an effort to tempt locals back into an area they had been priced out of by building new, more affordable, homes.
She told Le Parisien that the median price of a property in Saint-Tropez had reached €16,000 per square metre because of demand from cash-rich "outsiders" who wanted a summer bolthole in the sun, with the result that the town had lost 40 percent of its permanent inhabitants.
"If it goes on like this, no young person will be able to find a place to live in Saint-Tropez", Siri said.
The government is gradually phasing out tax d'habitation - the householders' tax - for everyone apart from high earners, but second-home owners are still required to pay it.
This year a new tax declaration must be completed by all property owners in France - including second-home owners who live outside France - declaring whether the property is a main residence or a second home.
READ ALSO Your questions answered on French property tax declaration
Separately to this, the government has also given local authorities in areas that are a zone tendue (an area with a housing shortage) the power to increase taxe d'habitation for second-home owners bu up to 60 percent.
Authorities in Saint-Tropez have gone for the maximum increase because of the severe shortage of affordable housing in the town. Today, only 3,850 people live in the town all year round - meaning a resort that’s overcrowded in the summer is virtually deserted in the winter.
The estimated €3 million expected to be raise annually from 2024 via the new tax will first be used to finance new housing for local people, said the mayor, who hopes to build around 100 new homes in the area over the next five years.
Property experts have said the move is unlikely to dissuade rich second-home owners from the prestigious resort.
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