A VOTE is set to be called which if passed, will see Cumbria County Council oppose a tax loophole for holiday lets.

Areas of the Lake District are seeing a surge in holiday lets which is eroding the number of properties available to people looking to get a foot on the housing ladder.

Councillor for Keswick Tony Lywood will propose a motion at the meeting, calling on the council to write to Central Government about the issue.

In particular, he hopes that the county council will urge Government to close a loophole which sees around 90 per cent of holiday lets paying neither council tax nor business rates.

Cllr Lywood believes this is contributing to the rise in holiday lets.

Cllr Lywood said: “Right now within the Lake District National Park some villages have only 20 per cent of their dwellings occupied permanently.

“The other 80 per cent are either holiday lets or second homes. Within my ward of Keswick the figure is now nearly 40 per cent.

“One in two houses sold go to owners who do not dwell in the house on a permanent basis.”

Cllr Lywood said that the housing crisis means “the guts of our communities are being ripped out.”

“Holiday lets produce income and bring tourists for our economy but the proportions have become so huge that our young people can no longer afford to live here and the community is fast dwindling.”

But he said that the number of lets is “out of control and killing our community.”

The motion calls on the council to write to Cumbrian MPs, parish councils and Levelling-Up minister Kemi Badenoch to garner support.

If successful, the motion would also see the county council write to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, urging him to close the tax loophole.

Allerdale Borough Council voted in January to write a letter to Central Government, also raising concerns about the rise in holiday lets and the subsequent shortage in housing.

The final meeting of the county council before the election takes place on Wednesday April 28 at the council chamber in Kendal.