Issue - meetings
Council Tax – Empty Homes premium
Meeting: 11/02/2019 - Cabinet (Item 12)
12 Council Tax – Empty Homes premium PDF 104 KB
The report seeks approval to an increase in the council tax premium that can be levied on domestic properties that have been empty for more than 2 years and also on those that have been empty for more than 5 years.
Decision:
RESOLVED that:
i) Cabinet agreed that the council increase the council tax premium from 50% to 100% from 1 April 2019 in respect of domestic properties that have been empty for longer than 2 years.
ii) Cabinet agreed that the council increase the council tax premium to 200% from 1 April 2020 in respect of domestic properties that have been empty for longer than 5 years.
iii) Cabinet agreed that the council increase the council tax premium to 300% from 1 April 2021 in respect of domestic properties that have been empty for longer than 10 years.
Minutes:
Councillor Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader, presented the report to Cabinet seeking agreement to increase the council tax premium on domestic properties left empty for more than two years. In line with changes to local authority powers, the report sought agreement to: from 1 April 2019, increase the premium from 50 to 100 percent for properties left empty for more than two years; from 1 April 2020, to increase the premium to 200 per cent for properties left empty for more than 5 years; and, from 1 April 2021, to increase the premium to 300 per cent for those properties left empty for more than ten years. Councillor McLennan emphasised that the scheme aimed to encourage landlords to bring those properties back into use.
Councillor Ellie Southwood, Lead Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, and Councillor Krupesh Hirani, Lead Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure, strongly welcomed the report.
RESOLVED that:
i) Cabinet agreed that the council increase the council tax premium from 50% to 100% from 1 April 2019 in respect of domestic properties that have been empty for longer than 2 years.
ii) Cabinet agreed that the council increase the council tax premium to 200% from 1 April 2020 in respect of domestic properties that have been empty for longer than 5 years.
iii) Cabinet agreed that the council increase the council tax premium to 300% from 1 April 2021 in respect of domestic properties that have been empty for longer than 10 years.