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Councils call for additional powers to tax empty homes
Local government leaders are urging peers to back changes to a parliamentary bill giving them new powers to increase council tax on empty homes.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for the House of Lords to support an amendment to the Rating and Council Tax Bill, which is having its third reading in the House of Lords today.
The bill was launched by the government in March this year after initially being announced in last November’s budget.
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In the original bill, it states that for long-term empty properties the premium councils can charge can go from 50% to a maximum of 100%. However, the amendment would allow councils to charge beyond the 100% premium on an escalating scale from 2020.
This would mean councils could charge a 200% premium for homes empty for five years or more or 300% for homes empty for 10 years or more.
The LGA has said giving councils the powers would encourage owners of empty homes to bring them back into use which would help tackle the UK’s housing shortage.
At the time the bill was first introduced, the government said it believed there was 200,000 long-term empty properties across England. However, this is down from 300,000 in 2010.
Richard Watts, chair of the LGA’s resources board, said it is “wrong” so many homes are empty when their is a chronic housing shortage.
“Providing councils with the ability to charge more for empty homes would be a hugely positive measure which will enable councils to incentivise owners of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use,” he added.
The LGA also said councils must be allowed to keep 100% of receipts from properties sold through Right to Buy to replace homes and reinvest in new housing.
Earlier this month the LGA, which represents 370 councils across England and Wales, published a report setting out how the government’s green paper can empower councils to trigger a renaissance in council housebuilding.
