Second home owners are poised to fight back as Cornwall prepares to impose double council tax – leaving councillors fearing for their budget

Cornwall councillor Steve Arthur is convinced that this year’s council budget will have a large hole in it because of tax-avoiding second home owners.

Arthur, a local businessman who runs a holiday cottage firm in Perranporth on the north Cornish coast, expects many of the county’s second home owners to nominate their children as council tax payers.