Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – CUSTOMERS

To consider increasing the council tax premiums on empty homes and introducing a new premium on second homes in a phased approach.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That in accordance with Section 11B and 11C of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended by Section 2 of the Rating (Properties in Common Occupation) & Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018 and the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, Council agreed to increasing the council tax premiums on empty homes and introducing a new premium on second homes in a phased approach as follows:

(1.1)       That from 1 April 2025 the Council adopts the following full Premium levy rates:

· Properties empty for one year but less than five will receive a 100% Premium.

· Properties empty for five years but less than ten years a 200% Premium.

· Properties empty for more than ten years a 300% Premium.

(1.2)       That from 1 April 2024 until 31 March 2025 the following interim premiums are introduced:

· Properties empty for one year but less than two will not receive a Premium

· Properties empty for more than two years, but less than five years will receive a 100% Premium.

· Properties empty for five years but less than ten years a 150% Premium.

· Properties empty for more than ten years a 200% Premium.

(2)   That from 1 April 2025 a 10 % discount would be removed and a 100% Premium would be levied on all properties that are determined as a second home, subject to any exceptions once these have been confirmed by Regulations and that the Service Director – Customers in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and IT is delegated authority to make any amendments following further confirmation of the Regulations.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)   To support the principle of bringing unoccupied properties back into occupation in line with the proposed empty homes strategy. At the time of writing there are 43 properties that have been unoccupied for over five years.

(2)   The introduction of a phased approach of increasing the premiums enables us to advertise the changes. As the introduction of premiums for properties unoccupied for between one and two years is new there will be no expectation on the owners of these properties of an additional premium and therefore it is recommended that this aspect is deferred until 2025 to allow time to advertise the change.

(3)   In respect of a premium on Second Homes the Council is required to give one year’s notice as this is the Councils first determination in this regard and therefore a resolution must be made before the end of the 2023/24 financial year in order to bring in the premium from 01 April 2025.

(4)   The Council does have the ability to revoke the decision in relation to Second Homes premium, during the year should any consultation that is carried out provide evidence that this would not be effective.

Recording – 48 minutes 40 seconds

The Chair invited Councillor Elizabeth Dennis, Leader of the Council, to present the referral from the Cabinet on this item. Councillor Dennis advised that Cabinet agreed with this referral and thanked everyone for the hard work involved in producing this report.

Councillor Ian Albert, Executive Member for Finance and IT, presented the report entitled ‘Council Tax Premiums for Empty and Second Homes’ and advised that:

·       This report highlighted the proposed changes to Council Tax Premiums on Empty and Second Homes.

·       There were two separate aspects to consider, empty homes and second homes.

·       In 2019 the Council introduced a 100% premium for properties empty for more than 2 years.

·       Analysis was carried out in December on the 157 properties which had been empty for over 2 years. 121 properties were paying Council Tax, 7 had no premium applied and 29 were not paying Council Tax regularly.

·       The number of empty homes continued to rise and these were a challenge to the district.

·       A premium could be avoided if an empty home was furnished as it then became classed as a second home.

·       Changes to premiums on empty homes would come into effect from 1 April 2024, but premiums on second homes required a one-year notice applied, so this would not take effect until 2025.

·       The impact of the additional premiums was to encourage homeowners to bring empty properties back into use and to revert second homes into primary residences.

·       From 1 April 2024 the changes to premium would affect the 43 properties in North Herts which had been empty for over 5 years. The Council would be contacting all owners to make them aware of this change.

The following Members took part in a debate:

·       Councillor Gerald Morris

·       Councillor Sean Prendergast

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Richard Thake

·       Councillor Alistair Willoughby

·       Councillor Adam Compton

Points included in the debate included:

·       This report complimented the Empty Homes Strategy and demonstrated the commitment of the Council to support its communities and it would help to address the housing shortage.

·       By contacting the homeowners of the 43 properties that had been empty for over 5 years, would improve the possibility of bringing those properties back into use.

·       Assistance should be offered to homeowners via a loan or grant to assist them to bring an empty home back into use.

·       Clarification of whether an empty home included any property that lacked facilities and was therefore unfit for occupation.

In response, the Revenues Manager advised that where a property that was unfit for occupation, the Council would use discretion on whether a premium should be applied.

Councillor Ian Albert proposed and Councillor Alistair Willoughby seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:

(1)   That in accordance with Section 11B and 11C of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended by Section 2 of the Rating (Properties in Common Occupation) & Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018 and the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, Council agreed to increasing the council tax premiums on empty homes and introducing a new premium on second homes in a phased approach as follows:

(1.1)       That from 1 April 2025 the Council adopts the following full Premium levy rates:

· Properties empty for one year but less than five will receive a 100% Premium.

· Properties empty for five years but less than ten years a 200% Premium.

· Properties empty for more than ten years a 300% Premium.

(1.2)       That from 1 April 2024 until 31 March 2025 the following interim premiums are introduced:

· Properties empty for one year but less than two will not receive a Premium.

· Properties empty for more than two years, but less than five years will receive a 100% Premium.

· Properties empty for five years but less than ten years a 150% Premium.

· Properties empty for more than ten years a 200% Premium.

(2)   That from 1 April 2025 the 10 % discount would be removed and a 100% Premium would be levied on all properties that are determined as a second home, subject to any exceptions once these have been confirmed by Regulations and that the Service Director – Customers in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and IT is delegated authority to make any amendments following further confirmation of the Regulations.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)   To support the principle of bringing unoccupied properties back into occupation in line with the proposed empty homes strategy. At the time of writing there are 43 properties that have been unoccupied for over five years.

(2)   The introduction of a phased approach of increasing the premiums enables us to advertise the changes. As the introduction of premiums for properties unoccupied for between one and two years is new there will be no expectation on the owners of these properties of an additional premium and therefore it is recommended that this aspect is deferred until 2025 to allow time to advertise the change.

(3)   In respect of a premium on Second Homes the Council is required to give one year’s notice as this is the Councils first determination in this regard and therefore a resolution must be made before the end of the 2023/24 financial year in order to bring in the premium from 01 April 2025.

(4)           The Council does have the ability to revoke the decision in relation to Second Homes premium, during the year should any consultation that is carried out provide evidence that this would not be effective.