Potential 300% council tax premium for empty homes

The new measure could be introduced by East Staffordshire Borough Council next year

The council tax premium on an empty home will go up by as much as 300 per cent, a local authority's budget plans reveal.

East Staffordshire Borough Council currently adds an additional 50 per cent to the council tax bill if a home is empty for more than two years.

This is set to increase by the number of years a property has been unoccupied, according to budget documents. The measure is set to rake in £108,000 a year.

The changes are planned to come into effect next year.

It would mean if a property is empty for more than one year but less than five, a 100 per cent premium is charged.

Homes vacant for more than five years but less than 10 years has a 200 per cent premium added and anything more than 10 years has a 300 per cent premium charged to a council tax bill.

The budget document states: "The council has reviewed its current Council Tax Empty Homes Premiums and proposes to amend these so that the full council tax premium regulations on empty homes are applied from 2025/26, with the aim of encouraging owners to bring properties back into use and reduce housing pressures within the borough.

"This would mean that the current levy, which charges a council tax premium of 50 per cent on homes which have been empty for more than 2 years, would be amended to introduce a range of council tax premiums dependent on the length of time that the property has been empty."

The council is expecting a zero per cent increase in core funding from the government and is due to implement a savings programme. From the next financial year, the council is planning to make £264,000 in savings, cost reductions and additional income.

The local authority is also expected to approve an increase to council tax at the next full council meeting on 17 February.

Plans show a provisional 2.98 per cent council tax increase, which equates to 11p per week for a Band D property.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.