Council Tax Premium Charges
Unoccupied and Unfurnished.
An additional amount of council tax (a premium) is charged when a property has been unoccupied and unfurnished for one year or more. As of 1 April 2024, the premium is set at 100%. This means you will be charged an additional 100% on your council tax for any properties you own that have been empty and unfurnished for one year or more. This premium applies to the property. A change of ownership or tenancy will not affect the premium. If you buy a property that has been empty and unfurnished for one or more years, you will still have to pay 200% council tax.
From 1 April 2024, the following premiums apply:
- 100% premium for properties empty 1-5 years
- 200% premium for properties empty 5-10 years
- 300% premium for properties empty 10 years +
There are two types of property that are not affected by the premium:
- property which is left empty by a member of the armed services, who is away as a result of their service;
- only part of a building which forms a single property is empty, for example, an annexe.
Unoccupied and Furnished.
From 1 April 2025, there will be an introduction of premiums for those properties registered as a second homes.
The definition of a second home for Council Tax purposes is a dwelling which has "no one resident" but is "substantially furnished".
Section 80 (2) of the Act inserts a new section 11C into the Local Government Finance Act 1992. This permits the Council to apply a premium on second homes. The maximum Council Tax charge in these cases would be a standard 100% charge plus a premium of 100% making a total Council Tax charge of 200%.
Unlike empty dwellings, there is no requirement for a property to have been used as a second home for a fixed period of time before the premium can apply.
The Act provides that a dwelling cannot be subject to both a second homes premium and an empty homes premium imposed under section 11B of the 1992 Act, and that an existing empty homes premium would cease to apply to a property which has become subject to a second homes premium.
Please view the premium policy [pdf] 235KB for further details.
From the 1st April 2025, there will be exceptions to the premium charges for both unfurnished and furnished properties. Further information on this can be found on our exceptions to premium charges web page.
