HUNDREDS of residential property owners in West Somerset have been excused a £1,500 council tax second homes surcharge after changing their occupation rules.

Owners of chalets on Dunster Beach, some of which can be sold for nearly £250,000, were allowed to stay in them all year round.

So, Somerset Council this year said it would class the chalets as second homes and impose a 100 per cent premium on council tax bills.

But now, Dunster Beach Holidays Ltd, which owns the 41-acre site on which the wooden chalets stand, has told owners they can no longer stay overnight for four weeks of each year.

The decision means the 230 properties can be exempted from the tax premium because they are now classed as ‘seasonal homes’ and fall into the bottom council tax band A with a current charge of £1,511.

Inside the Salad Days beach hut at Dunster Beach.
Inside the Salad Days chalet at Dunster Beach. PHOTO: Dunster Beach Holidays Ltd.

The news was given to chalet owners in a letter from the company’s directors which said: “We can now confirm that Somerset Council have stated they agree that our chalets meet the requirements for a class L exemption (seasonal homes) to the proposed council tax premium.

“The council have indicated they will take the necessary actions to remove the premium internally for all properties that currently pay council tax.

“Chalet owners, therefore, at this stage, are not required to do anything further to avoid the premium as a result of this good news.

“Thank you for your patience in this matter, it was worth it in the end to get the outcome we all hoped for.”

All chalet owners are also shareholders in Dunster Beach Holidays Ltd and have voting rights at meetings of the company, which has now decided to ban overnight stays for four weeks from the second week in January annually.

Last year, three chalets were put up for sale for £249,000, £230,000, and £220,000, respectively, more than the then-average house price in Wales.

One of them, Salad Days, which underwent a refurbishment in 2015, was said to be England’s first five-star beach hut and won awards including South West self-catering business of the year and dog-friendly business of the year.

It overlooks Dunster Beach’s freshwater Hawn lake and was marketed as having underfloor heating, an en-suite shower, a fully-equipped kitchen, a lounge with white leather furniture, and front and back gardens with seating and sun loungers.

Another was promoted as having a double bedroom, lounge, modern kitchen, shower-room, electrically-operated security shutters, and front and rear patios.

Dunster Beach Holidays Ltd will next year mark the 60th anniversary of its formation, having been set up to take over the coastal site and about 440 acres of foreshore which was previously part of Dunster Castle’s Luttrell family country estate.

Shareholders elect its directors at their annual meeting who work as volunteers to manage the company business and make ‘strategic and operational decisions’.

The company aims to provide chalet owners with the ‘comfort and security’ of knowing their property is managed to the ‘highest level of professionalism and integrity’.