Support shared for doubling council tax on empty homes

South Cambridgeshire District Council has said it wants to bring the empty homes across the area back into use for people who want to live in the district.

The current council tax bill for a Band D property is £2,303 a year, under the proposed new policy this would increase to £4,606 a year.

Support for the plans was shared at a cabinet meeting today (Wednesday, November 6).

Councillor John Williams, lead cabinet member for finance, said the district council already had “incentives” for owners of empty properties to bring them back into use.

Cllr John Williams (Image: SCDC) He said there were around 2,600 empty homes in the district, adding that there were also around 2,000 people on the housing waiting list.

Cllr Williams said while the majority of empty homes were empty for a good reason, he said there was a "significant minority" that had sat empty for a while.

It was these homes he said the district council wanted to see brought back into use.

Cllr Williams added that the higher premium was also proposed to cover second homes due to furniture being placed in empty homes in order to class them as a second home.

Cllr John Batchelor said he was "fully in favour" of "any measure that is going to bring more housing into use".

Leader of the district council Cllr Bridget Smith said the proposals were about "getting more homes in use for people who want to live in South Cambridgeshire".

Cllr Bridget Smith (Image: SCDC) Cllr Brian Milnes asked if the change could be reviewed in a few years time to see if the council tax premiums had an impact on the number of empty homes in the area.

Cllr Anna Bradnam asked whether new build properties that were sitting empty due to being priced too high would be subject to the council tax premiums.

Officers explained that there are proposed to be exemptions for homes that are actively being marketed.

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Exemptions are also proposed for homes undergoing probate; homes that are periodically occupied in certain job-related circumstances; and homes undergoing major work to make them habitable.

The proposed premiums will need to be signed off by full council before they can be introduced.

If approved the new charges could come into force from April 2026.