Empty Property: Council Tax
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the empty homes council tax premium on the number of dwellings categorised by local authorities as being empty.
Answered by Jim McMahon
Councils have the discretionary power to charge a council tax premium of up to 100% on homes left empty for one or more years, a change from the prior two years. It is for councils to decide whether to introduce the empty homes premium, and at what level, based on local circumstances. I have included a table showing the change in the number of dwellings classed as empty homes in the last five years (excluding those which are exempt). This is taken from the 2024 council taxbase data.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Total number of dwellings classed as empty | 479,336 | 468,070 | 478,928 | 480,845 | 502,263 |
Number of dwellings classed as empty charged a premium | 69,201 | 71,630 | 72,341 | 75,803 | 119,606 |
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