LOCAL authorities including Teignbridge will have to ‘be bold’ in setting the tax they demand from people who buy second homes, councillors have been told.

The proliferation of second homes and holiday lets in popular areas such as Teignbridge and Dartmoor is adding to pressure on councils to provide more affordable homes for local people.

Some councils have already voted to charge second home owners double the normal rate of council tax to help fund local services.

But members of Teignbridge overview and scrutiny committee heard more action could be needed to enable local people to find homes in their communities.

Cllr Sally Morgan, who also serves on the Dartmoor National Park Authority, said on housing, the authority was ‘torn’ between looking after the landscape and providing homes.

She said: ‘We recognise the need for affordable homes.

‘It is incredibly expensive to live on Dartmoor. There seems to be a premium to the name.

‘If you want to charge 25 per cent more, put the name ‘Dartmoor’ in front of it, and the same for houses.’

She said pressure created by second homes and holiday lets made it difficult for people to farm on the moor.

It could be hard to recruit staff, with workers unable to afford to live locally, having to commute from Newton Abbot or Teignmouth.

‘It’s a conundrum,’ said Cllr Morgan.

‘To some extent we have to be bold about how we charge council tax on holiday lets and second homes, and that’s a discussion we have to have across the south west.

‘It’s a constant balance of community, farming and environment.’

Cllr Morgan also raised the alarm over budget pressures on the national park, which receives most of its funding from central government.

‘Our reserves are there for a rainy day, and everyone agrees it’s tipping down.

‘We are not the only park in that situation.

‘We can’t afford to be cut any more. We are down to the bone.’