Council Tax
Council Tax Charging
Since the passing of the Local Government Act 2003, councils now have individual discretion concerning Council Tax discounts on empty properties.
Every empty property is eligible for exemption from Council Tax charging for the first six months that they are unoccupied. After the initial six month period, councils have the right to decide whether or not a property has grounds to extend the exemption case by case basis, for unforeseen circumstances- such as overrun renovation and repair work.
After the initial exemption period, some councils may offer a discount from between 0-50% on Council Tax charging for properties that remain empty. We applauded the government for undertaking the action to give individual councils the option to abolish council tax discounts, while recognising that it needs to be a discretionary right as, for some local authorities in areas of low demand, such a cancellation of the discount would be very unhelpful and unconstructive to owners of empty property.
If you are the owner of an empty property, and you wish to find out what your councils’ policy on Council Tax discounts are, you can choose to contact the council tax office in your local government, or look online at
(http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/index.jsp?LGSL=59&LGIL=8&ServiceName=Find%20out%20about%20discounts%20on%20council%20tax)
If you believe that you own an empty property that is uninhabitable, and cannot be reasonable repaired, your property may be eligible to be removed from council tax charging. To do so you can apply to your local Valuation Office Agency (VOA) for the property to be removed. To find out which is your local office and find contact details visit the VOA website.
Empty Homes is currently campaigning for local authorities to be given the power to retain the additional income raised by the abolition of the empty property discount, if authorities so choose, to invest directly into empty property work.
The Local Government Act 2003 also gave local authorities the power to use Council Tax data for their ongoing empty property work. The Empty Homes Agency has also worked with local authorities across the country to remind them that they do now have the power of access to Council Tax data.
Some local authority Empty Property Officers have found it difficult to access this data, and it is important that the relevant Act of Parliament is cited in defence of such a request. If local authorities do experience difficulty accessing this data, the Empty Homes Agency is very happy to be involved to support this change in legislation, and you may contact us at any time.
Update November 2011
Independent charity Empty Homes welcomes the government’s consultation on council tax incentives for owners of empty homes.
The consultation paper “Technical reforms of council tax” makes three proposals for changes on empty homes
- Allow councils to charge extra council tax on long-term empty homes
- Allow councils to remove the exemption from council tax for short term empty homes.
- Remove exemption from council tax for lenders on repossessed homes
Empty Homes welcomes these proposals. Chief Executive David Ireland said “ We have long argued that the current system is barmy, it effectively gives a half billion pound subsidy for leaving properties empty. If introduced these proposals, will help encourage owners to do the right thing.”
He continued “On the government’s figures these measures could raise over £450 million a year. This could make an enormous differnce and should be reinvested to help people get more homes into use. ”
The consultation paper can be seen here: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/technicalreformcounciltax
The consultation period runs until December 29th 2011
The government estimates average potential savings of £20 per council tax payer. There are 22.8milion homes currently registered for council tax purposes in England.
Empty Homes has also responded to government proposals to criminalise squatting http://emptyhomes.com/latest-news/empty-homes-responds-to-new-squatting-law
