Couple face huge loss selling their seaside second home

A pensioner has told how her dream of owning a holiday home has turned into a nightmare because of a council tax blitz on second homes.

- by Charles Brown

Susan Pape, 72, says she now faces making a £60k loss selling her holiday flat in Filey because the local council has doubled council tax on second homes.

Susan bought her holiday flat, at Royal Crescent Court, with her husband 16 years ago for just under £130,000 after she came into a “small inheritance”.

A year ago, the couple, who live primarily in Leeds, decided it was time to sell up while they “still had the energy” to empty the property-but now they are faced a lack of interest from buyers, something Susan blames on the increased council tax burden.

Susan said: “I think for a lot of people like us, it’s the final straw.

"When you start having to go into your savings every month you think, well, if I didn't have the flat we could go and have mini-breaks or use the money for something else... like heating our own house in the winter.”