Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of second homes in (a) each local authority and (b) England which (i) are and (ii) have been registered as holiday lets for which small business rate relief is claimed; and the amount of tax revenue that has been foregone through that provision.

Second homes are ordinarily domestic properties and therefore liable for council tax, rather than non-domestic rates. We do not collect data on the number of holiday properties that are registered for, or receive, Small Business Rate Relief. Decisions on whether a property qualifies for Small Business Rate Relief rests with local councils.