Boycott of holiday home owners needed - says County Council manager

[Howth Head]

This seems quite alarming and frankly unbelieveable to me for all kinds of reasons. While I'm not lucky enough to own a holiday home I would have thought that once they received initial planning and were bought and paid for (with LPT up to date etc) that it's no-one's business how the owner uses it. (Yes I can see the wider point - but surely encouraging local business to refuse service to those owners can't be legal.)

‘They are bad neighbours to have’ – Mayo housing official calls for ‘radical’ boycott of holiday-home owners

A senior county council manager has called for a community-led “boycott” of holiday-home owners in order to bring high numbers of vacant properties back into use and combat the housing crisis.

www.independent.ie

Mr Gilligan proposed the immediate boycott of holiday-home owners in Mayo as a “potential remedy for bringing holiday homes back into use for long-term sustainable housing”.

He said a four-point plan would involve the local community in which holiday-home owners live part-time. It would involve:

• Avoiding patronage of businesses or services owned by absentee landlords.
• Refusing engagement with holiday-home owners.
• Public campaigns, posters and community meetings encouraging solidarity.
• Social pressure, including open letters and local resolutions, demanding accountability from property investors.

 

[Annieindublin]

Does he mean houses that are empty 50 weeks of the year or ones that are let out (or lent to family and friends) so people can spend money locally?
I can’t see local service providers such as take always and pubs refusing to engage with their seasonal customers.

And absentee landlords? Such as our pension funds? I’m pretty sure mine has some property investments.

I do feel for people who are priced out of the market by people who don’t need the houses 52 weeks of the year, but where does it stop? Have 2 markets and designate what properties are in each and who can buy in each… local houses for locals only… how does anyone become a local?

I also feel sympathy for people who can’t buy a bigger house locally for a growing family while their neighbours swan around in massive houses they don’t need… are we going to police that too?

 

[ClubMan]

He added: “This proposal does not seek to vilify or blame individuals, but rather to challenge the acceptability of allowing homes to lie idle in the middle of a housing crisis.”

“I hate to say it, but holiday-home owners are bad neighbours, to be honest with you,” he said.

 

[losttheplot]

Are you sure this isn't from the archives, circa 1880.

 

[ClubMan]

He does cite Davitt, Captain Boycott, and Parnell to be fair...
And Gandhi!

 

[Dr Strangelove]

I had family who bought a holiday home in the rural west, not near the coast. House was old and in need of renovation. Locals were all building themselves 200sqm houses at the time.

Locals were very positive about their presence as they preferred occasional occupation to dereliction.

 

[Steven Barrett]

It's not just an Irish thing, it is happening everywhere. People are being priced out of buying a home in their town by wealthy people buying holiday homes. They are thereby driving up the price and reducing the supply. In Barcelona, locals are shooting water from water pistols are tourists in protest.

They have a point. In the middle of a housing crises (again, not just Ireland but most of the "western world") allowing people to have a holiday home which is only used a few times a year while others struggle to get just one home seems a bit unfair. If the government are going to restrict how much landlords can charge in rent, why shouldn't they restrict people buying second homes?

 

[Howth Head]

The more I think about this the more I see an almost sinister undertone to it. It's all stick and no carrot - essentially he's suggesting that the locals should make life hell for these people, make it impossible for them to exist.

Perhaps someone should point out to him that Mayo County Council like other rural counties receives a large subsidy mainly from Dublin property tax payers:

€21.3 million property tax windfall for Mayo authority | Connaught Telegraph

The Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Alan Dillon, has announced the allocation of €696 million in Local Property Tax (LPT) for 2025 to local authorities - including €21.3 million for Mayo County Council.

www.con-telegraph.ie

"The equalisation process is a key component in support this shortfall. It redistributes funds to local authorities with lower LPT yields, maintaining a fair and equitable system across the country.”

 

[Marsupial]

I do feel for people who are priced out of the market by people who don’t need the houses 52 weeks of the year, but where does it stop? Have 2 markets and designate what properties are in each and who can buy in each… local houses for locals only… how does anyone become a local?

That's the situation in Guernsey*

They have Open Market Property which anyone can buy and Local Market Housing which may be occupied by ... "anyone who is locally born and who has spent a certain number of years during their childhood on the island" or by “Employment permit holders whose presence on the island is permitted because of the “essential” nature of their work. Such permits are limited in time ..."

* Jersey has something similar.

 

[Protocol]

Perhaps someone should point out to him that Mayo County Council like other rural counties receives a large subsidy mainly from Dublin property tax payers:

Please note that equalisation has changed, and now all equalisation grants come from central Govt.

 

[ClubMan]

They have a point.

You think that this guy has a point about boycotting?

 

[Dr Strangelove]

In Barcelona, locals are shooting water from water pistols are tourists

I always chuckle at that. Tourism is now 1/8 of Spanish GDP.

I wonder do they want to go back to canning olives like their grandparents?

 

[Dr Strangelove]

When I visited Guernsey a few years ago, that was the situation. .....

It seems to work on a small island, but Gawd help us all if some future government tried to introduce it here!

Well it would be contrary to EU law in Ireland.

Guernsey is not a part of the EU and never was.

 

[T McGibney]

The mind boggles at the notion of a senior local authority manager explicitly calling for boycotts of ratepaying businesses.

Let's hope the report isn't true.

 

[Marsupial]

Well it would be contrary to EU law in Ireland.

Laws can change.

 

[Steven Barrett]

You think that this guy has a point about boycotting?

That's not what I said. You are conflating what I said about the Barcelona protests with the idea of boycotts in Mayo.

 

[Steven Barrett]

I always chuckle at that. Tourism is now 1/8 of Spanish GDP.

As with most things, it's not black or white, it's usually gray. Tourism is a huge industry in Spain but in some areas, it is obviously having a detrimental impact on the locals ability to buy their own homes. Keep the tourism but the tourist come visit the city, stay in a hotel/ rent somewhere and then go home again. If they love the place, they can always come back again next year...

 

[ClubMan]

The mind boggles at the notion of a senior local authority manager explicitly calling for boycotts of ratepaying businesses.

Let's hope the report isn't true.

It's been reported extensively and the guy has doubled down on his suggestion of a boycott so it does seem to be true.

 

[T McGibney]

I was trying to be charitable to the guy.

 

[Purple]

I do feel for people who are priced out of the market by people who don’t need the houses 52 weeks of the year, but where does it stop?

I wonder if that would include forcing people who spend large chunks of the year in Spain to sell their house in Ireland. Then there's the people who inherit their parents home in a rural area and retire to it, splitting their time between that house and their urban family home. Should they be forced to sell one of them?

Have 2 markets and designate what properties are in each and who can buy in each… local houses for locals only… how does anyone become a local?

Great idea; Dublin people can't afford to buy in Dublin because of all the country folk moving there and pricing them out of the market. Lets have a "Culchie Tax" and use it to subsidise Dublin born people who are trying to buy in their own locality.