Empty properties or second homes

Empty Property Premium and Exceptions 

A long-term empty home is defined as a home which is both unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for a continuous period, of more than one year.

Second homes, dwellings occupied periodically are defined as dwellings which are substantially furnished and have no resident, it is not a person's sole or main home.

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act allows local authorities to charge a Council Tax premium on long term empty unfurnished homes. From 1 April 2024, an additional premium on long term empty properties will apply. You will pay the full Council Tax charge plus the additional premium; this will show as a separate charge on your Council Tax bill.

From April 1 2024, the following additional premiums will apply for properties which have been empty and unfurnished for more than:

• one to five years: 100%
• five to ten years: 200%
• over ten years: 300%

This premium applies from one year after the property became unoccupied and unfurnished, rather than when you became liable for the Council Tax on that property.

Second homes will become liable for a premium of 100% from 1 April 2025. You will pay the full Council Tax charge plus the additional premium; this will show as a separate charge on your Council Tax bill.

The premium does not apply when the following criteria is met:

• second homes with an occupancy restriction which prevents the property being occupied at certain times of the year - examples include seasonal homes, purpose-built holiday accommodation which can only be used as holiday accommodation or dwellings which have planning restrictions whereby, they cannot be occupied for at least 28 continuous days in a year
• a second property where the pitch is occupied by a caravan or mooring occupied by a boat
• a job-related dwelling, this applies to second homes only, where you have a dwelling provided by your employer for the purposes of performing your work such as head teachers for boarding schools who are required to live in school accommodation, you will receive a 50% discount on your home which you have left
• where you have left your property unoccupied as you are living in Armed Forces accommodation
• annexes forming part of or being treated as part of a main dwelling

With effect from 1 April 2025 the government has introduced exceptions to the empty homes' premium. These exceptions do not apply to additional premiums payable for any period prior to 1 April 2025.

Actively marketed for sale or let

This exception can apply for up to 12 months from the point of which the dwelling has first been marketed for sale or let.

The exception will end either when the 12-month period has ended, when the dwelling has been sold or let, or when the dwelling is no longer actively marketed for sale or let.

The following conditions will apply to this exception:

• the same owner may only make use of the exception for a particular dwelling marketed for sale once
• the exception may be used again for the same dwelling if it has been sold and has a new owner
• the same owner may make use of the exception for dwellings marketed for let multiple times, however, only after the dwellings have been let for a continuous period of at least six months since the exception last applied

Probate

When a dwelling has been left empty following the death of its owner or occupant, it is exempt from Council Tax for as long as it remains unoccupied and until probate is granted.

Following a grant of probate or the issue of letters of administration, a further six months exemption is possible, so long as the dwelling remains unoccupied and has not been transferred by the executors or administrators to the beneficiaries or sold to anyone else.

The Regulations provide for a 12-month exception to the premium for both second and empty unfurnished homes. 

The 12-month period begins from the point probate is granted or letters of administration have been issued. This runs concurrently with the six-month exemption.

Requires or undergoing major repairs or structural alterations

This exception applies only to long term empty and unfurnished properties. Where a dwelling requires or is undergoing major repairs to make it habitable or is undergoing structural alteration which has not been substantially completed it may be classed as uninhabitable, an exception from the empty home premium may apply for up to 12 months.

Major repair work or structural alteration may include but are not limited to:

• major roof or external wall repairs
• major fire or flood damage
• foundation work or work relating to supporting walls

Non qualifying work includes, but is not limited to:

• new bathrooms
• new kitchens
• replacement plumbing, heating, boiler
• replacement flooring
• new doors, door frames, windows
• removal of minor damp problems for example damp-proof course
• replastering
• redecoration
• re-pointing

This exception cannot apply again unless the dwelling has been sold. 

If the dwelling is substantially furnished and becomes a second home without a resident, then this exception will end.

The Council is keen to help owners return their properties back into useful accommodation and it has a dedicated Empty Homes Team, who are committed to supporting owners of unoccupied properties achieve this.

For further information contact the Empty Homes Team on 01642 527797, or email emptyhomes@stockton.gov.uk or visit the Council's empty properties webpage.