Council chiefs back plans to hike council tax for owners of long-term empty homes

Anthony Lewis, local democracy reporter

Senior councillors have backed plans to increase council tax for owners of long-term empty homes.

Rhondda Cynon Taf’s cabinet gave its backing to plans to make owners of properties empty for more than three years pay treble the standard rate and owners of homes empty for between one and three years pay double the standard rate on Thursday 19 September.

The proposals will now go before full council on Wednesday (25 September) for final approval.

They mean the premium would be 100% for those properties which have been empty for between one and three years so their liability would be double the standard rate of council tax.

The level of premium would then step up and be set at 200% for those properties which have been empty for more than three years meaning they would pay treble the standard rate of council tax.

The council report said in RCT there are 1,065 properties which have been empty up to six months, 608 from seven to 12 months, 586 empty between one and two years, 247 between two and three years, 226 between three and five years, and 459 which have been empty for more than five years.

2025

The level of premium on second homes would remain at 100% and the changes to the premium for long-term empty properties would be introduced and effective from April 2025.

The council would write to each homeowner, once a decision is made, to advise them of the forthcoming changes.

The cabinet report said that where it becomes clear that there is no realistic prospect of an owner taking any action to enable reuse then the council could take direct action to intervene.

This could include compulsory purchase order (CPO) proceedings.

The premium level changes would bring in additional revenue through the council tax of around £750,000 a year but this will be subject to review and confirmation based on exceptions.

Additional revenue raised would support the continuation of the council’s empty homes strategy, the report said.

Challenge

Councillor Christina Leyshon said: “Despite previous interventions long-term empty properties continue to present a challenge in our communities.

“These empty properties are a blight on our landscape and lead to damp and other problems in adjoining dwellings and we know that many are owned by absent landlords. They do not live or dwell anywhere near RCT.”

Overall, 157 responses were received to the consultation and 53% were owners of empty properties in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The consultation shows that 57.5% of all respondents disagreed with the proposal to charge a 100% premium for those properties empty between one and three years and 200% premium for properties empty for more than three years.

The report said that the majority of people who stated they were residents are more likely to agree (66.2%) than those responding directly as empty property owners (10.4%).

Since April 2017 councils in Wales have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% on top of the standard rate of council tax on second homes and long-term empty properties and from April 2023 this was increased to 300% by the Welsh Government.

Whether to charge a premium on second homes or long-term empty properties or both is a decision to be made by each council and there are some exceptions to the premiums.