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 (a) empty home premiums on council tax, (b) second home premiums on council tax and (c) planning conditions against the use of new build homes as secondary residences on (i) house prices and (ii) housing markets in (A) England and (B) Wales.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The use of council tax premiums is at local authorities’ discretion. The government does collect data on the use of premiums and number of empty and second homes, which is published in the government’s council taxbase statistics. However, it does not make housing market assessments based on premiums. The government does not monitor the number of planning permissions granted that are subject to conditions that restrict the use of a property. It is for local planning authorities to consider what planning conditions are appropriate for a development on a case-by-case basis.
These are devolved policy areas, and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on policy for Wales.
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