A Suffolk councillor has warned his 'community could die' unless money raised from a doubling of council tax on second homes was ring-fenced for affordable housing.

East Suffolk councillor David Beavan, who represents Southwold, has tabled a motion to the council's meeting on Wednesday calling for more of the income generated by the district's 4,096 second homes to be spent on social housing for rent, rather than the county council and Police and Crime Commissioner.

He said the 100% rate rise would increase the council's revenue by £700,000 while also generating £5.85m for the county council and £1m for the Police and Crime Commissioner.

He cited the example of Norfolk, where the county council there had given a portion of second home council tax revenue back to district councils for regeneration projects, while North Norfolk District Council had ring-fenced income for affordable housing.

East Anglian Daily Times: Cllr David Beavan is calling for the council tax on second homes to be spent on providing social housing for rentCllr David Beavan is calling for the council tax on second homes to be spent on providing social housing for rent (Image: SARAH LUCY BROWN)

Cllr Beavan said: "I would like the money to be ring-fenced for affordable homes because we have got the largest number of second homes in the country and it is doing real damage.

"Another ten years and there won't be any residents left. Basically, the community's going to die."

His motion calls on the council to 'reach out' to the county council and Police and Crime Commissioner to explore ways of working together to use all of the tax money on social housing.

In July, the council rejected a motion to implement the 100% rate rise.

The Yorkshire towns Whitby and Scarborough became the first in the country to double the council tax on second homes after the Government announced local authorities will have the power to levy the extra bills from April 2024, with the new rules coming in in April.