Peers urged to double tax on empty homes

LOCAL government chiefs have called for a doubling of council tax on homes if they lie empty.

The Local Government Association is lobbying peers to back an amendment to two bills in the Lords today in order to grant councils the power to hike taxes on vacant properties.

If backed by peers, this would allow local councils to increase the empty homes premium on tax bills from 50pc to 100pc for those homes left empty for between two and five years. Any property empty for a longer period of between five and 10 years could see their premium upped by 200pc, while those vacant for more than a decade would face a 300pc uplift.

Richard Watts of the LGA said: “At a time when we face a chronic housing shortage across the country, it is wrong for so many homes to be left empty.”

Mr Watts added that should the Lords back the amendment, it would help give councils the power to “incentivise owners of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use”.