Under the levelling up law, the seaside communities of Scarborough and Whitby will be among the first in England to double tax.
To combat the "blight" of vacation rentals, the seaside towns of Whitby and Scarborough will be among the first in England to treble council tax on second homes.
As they decided to impose a 100% surcharge on owners of second homes in North Yorkshire, council members said that the growth of rental marketplaces like Airbnb and others was "tearing the heart out of communities."
About 28% of the properties in Whitby are vacation houses. According to estate agents, up to three-quarters of new construction in the area is being sold to investors or short-term renters.
According to the government's levelling up bill, which is being debated in parliament, North Yorkshire would become one of the first regions in England to double council tax on second homes as a result of the vote in Northallerton on Wednesday.
If the bill is signed into law by April of next year, the new council tax premium won't go into force until April 2024 at the earliest.
Councils in tourist areas like Cornwall are debating whether to impose the same fee. Welsh local councils now have the authority to triple the amount of council tax due on vacation homes.
On Wednesday, a North Yorkshire county council meeting was informed that the overabundance of homes on websites like Airbnb was "breaking up communities" and driving inhabitants out.
In Whitby, there are 96 applications for every available social housing unit, according to Conservative councillor David Chance.
He said that there were just 11 regular residents and vacation rentals or second houses in the lower village of Runswick Bay.
People in Whitby "cannot afford to buy a home in their own town," he declared. "We've lately constructed a lot of homes in Whitby, and they have all been purchased by outsiders.
Many people have moved into second houses, vacation rentals, and vacation homes, which is ripping the heart out of communities. Our rural villages are really struggling.
Independent councillor Janet Jefferson in North Yorkshire claimed she was receiving "daily calls" from people being forced out of homes that "had suddenly turned into vacation homes."
They are evicting tenants who have been renting for years in order to increase their profits, she claimed.
Without obtaining a permit, Jefferson said that residences in her coastal ward were being converted into vacation homes "every day," and she added, "It's impacting our neighbourhoods. It disintegrates our communities.
Since April 2017, local governments in Wales have effectively been permitted to treble council tax assessments on second houses.
The devolved Welsh government modified the rules earlier this year to let councils to charge 300% surcharges, making a £1,000 bill into £4,000 in total.
In accordance with plans put forth by the local government, owners of second houses in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, were informed on Wednesday that they will be required to pay a 150% surcharge starting in April.
The extra funds will be used to address homelessness, which Ioan Thomas, a member of Gwynedd Council's finance cabinet, claimed had increased by 47% in the region over the previous two years.