Sheffield City Council granted powers to double tax for empty and second homes

Sheffield City Council will increase council tax for second and empty homes

A local authority will get new legal powers to double council tax for long-term empty properties and second homes.

Sheffield City Council's finance committee agreed on the increase, which it said would bring in nearly £1.1m in the first year.

The council tax rise for empty homes will apply to dwellings which have been unoccupied and "substantially unfurnished" for at least two years.

The new powers granted to the council will come into effect from April.

The idea behind the change was to bring more homes back into use as well as to raise revenue, councillors were told.

The committee's report stated that there were 1,491 dwellings in Sheffield that had been empty for between one and two years, but a number of them had been left empty due to the resident dying or being in a care home.

These homes have full exemption from council tax, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Around 137 of the homes are owned by the council, which means the increase will cost the authority £200,000.

The new powers will enable the council to make changes to the council tax for long-term empty properties from April, while the second homes premium will be introduced next year.