the tax on second homes explodes

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A house in Brittany was the dream of Laurent Girard and Bruno Le Goff. A second home by the sea for their retirement. This year, with the increase in housing tax, their finances will be impacted.

“A housing tax was already a certain amount, now it’s true that it will still add up to a large sum.” explains Laurent Girard. Bruno Le Goff adds: “We will gradually spend more and more time here, so adding an additional tax is a disadvantage for us. It is a budget to spend in taxes rather than going to small businesses and then developing the economic fabric of the region.”

Like more than 1,600 municipalities in France, Cancale has chosen to increase the housing tax on second homes by more than 50%. The goal? Fight against villas with shutters closed for a good part of the year. They represent almost half of the houses in the city. So this decision is debated.

“I agree, even the most well-off people, from a moment on, will ask themselves: is it really worth paying a lot of money to enjoy it for only a week?” underlines a local resident, a feeling shared by another resident: “People who have a second home, they use it for two, three months, so they are not going to rent it out for the year.”

Increase the housing tax, an initiative massively applied in Brittany. Eight mayors out of ten followed it. Maude Korsec, municipal councilor and town planning delegate, specifies: “It is an additional income of around 400,000 euros which supplements the general budget and which makes it possible to carry out structuring operations, such as the crèche which is currently being built.”

Infrastructure that residents can benefit from all year round. In 2025, Brittany will be the region that taxes second homes the most, ahead of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Pays de la Loire.