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On 28 October 2026, the government announced that people in Council Tax Bands A to D will receive a £100 payment in their bank accounts. We will provide this in January 2027 with the details we have in the Council Tax system. We currently have no more detail than this and there may be exceptions, which we will outline when we receive the detailed guidance. As soon as we have more detail, we will provide an update.
Short-term empty properties
Apply for a discount
If you are responsible for Council Tax for an empty property, you can apply for a discount.
The discount lasts for a maximum of three months, and applies to the property and not the person responsible for Council Tax. This means that if the previous owner claimed the discount for some of the three months, you can only claim it for the remaining time.
After three months, we will charge Council Tax in full.
We will only apply a new empty property discount if the property becomes empty and substantially unfurnished after it has been occupied for at least six weeks.
To apply for a discount for an empty property, you will need:
your name, address and contact details
to tell us when the property became empty and unfurnished
We define a substantially unfurnished property as a property that does not have enough furniture to be considered habitable. We review any sofas, beds, tables, chairs and wardrobes in any living areas and bedrooms to make our decision. We do not count white goods when reviewing furniture.
If you are buying an unoccupied and substantially unfurnished property, you can contact us to find out about potential Council Tax charges.
Charges
From 1 April 2024, you will have to pay an empty homes premium once your property has been unoccupied and unfurnished for 12 months or more. This means we will charge Council Tax in full, plus an additional 100% of the bill.
If your property has been empty for five years or more, the premium increases from 100% to 200%. This means your bill will be three times the normal Council Tax charge.
There will be a further increase in the premium from 200% to 300% for any property that has remained empty for 10 years or more.