Council Tax for Second Homes
Second homes for the purposes of Council Tax are properties that are substantially furnished and unoccupied or have no permanent resident.
From 1 April 2025, if you own or rent a property which is considered a second home, you will be charged a 100% premium. This includes:
· furnished properties which are unoccupied between tenants
properties occupied from time to time as second homes
Exceptions to the second home levy
The following exceptions will be considered. Proof will be required to remove the second home levy:
- Owners that reside in job related armed forces accommodation
- An annexe that is part of the main dwelling
- The property is advertised for sale or to let, and has been for less than 12 months
- Where probate has been granted within 12 months
- Job related dwellings (such as a school caretaker), where you are contractually obliged to live in a specific property, and you have a main home elsewhere
- Occupied caravan pitches and boat moorings
- Seasonal homes where permanent occupation is prohibited, specified use as holiday accommodation or planning condition preventing occupation for more than 28 days continuously.
To claim an exception, please email revenues@hertsmere.gov.uk with your council tax reference in the subject line, together with evidence proving you are eligible to have the second home premium removed.
For more information, please visit the GOV.UK website here: Council Tax information letter 2/2024: proposals to exempt categories of dwellings from the council tax premiums in England - GOV.UK
You can only claim a single person discount for living in a property which is your sole or main residence. `
Empty Home Premium (Levy)
An empty home premium is added to your full council tax bill if your home is empty and unfurnished for more than 1 year, the premium increases the longer your home is empty.
The empty property premium was initially introduced from April 2013 for properties that had been empty and unfurnished for more than 2 years with a 50% premium then being applied. From April 2019 this premium was increased to 100% with greater premiums of 200% and 300% being introduced in subsequent years 2020 and 2021 for properties empty for more than 5 years and 10 years respectively. Under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which received Royal Assent in October 2023, the period for which a property could be empty without incurring a premium was reduced from 2 years to 1 year.
The empty property premiums are now applied as follows:
- if your home is empty and unfurnished for 1 year or more, an empty home premium of 100% is added to your council tax bill
- if your home is empty and unfurnished for 5 years or more, an empty home premium of 200% is added to your council tax bill
- if your home is empty and unfurnished for 10 years or more, an empty home premium of 300% is added to your council tax bill
The empty home premium will continue until the property becomes the main home of the resident(s). Please contact the council with the name of the new occupant(s) and the date they moved in by email to: revenues@hertsmere.gov.uk
Please note, periods of occupation of less than six weeks do not count when we charge council tax for the empty home again.
Uninhabitable Homes
If your home is uninhabitable either because it is derelict, undergoing major renovation, or demolished, you can seek to have your empty property deleted from the Council Tax Valuation List by downloading and completing the following form from the Valuation Office Agency website. Once completed, please email it to ctinbox@voa.gov.uk, or post it to:
Valuation Office Agency
Durham Customer service Centre
Wycliffe House
Green Lane
Durham
DH1 3UW
The Valuation Office Agency is an executive agency of HM Revenue & Customs and they are responsible for compiling and maintaining lists of council tax valuation bands for 26.8 million domestic properties as well as rateable values for 2.1 million commercial properties for Business Rates.
The Valuation Office Agency can therefore take 90 days to make a determination, so you will continue to be liable for payment of your council tax in the meantime. It is therefore important for you to continue paying your council tax as billed until the council issue a revised bill. Failure to pay your council tax will result in recovery action being taken against you. Costs for such recovery action will be payable by you. However, a refund will be made to you by the council for any overpayment made as a result of the VOA decision. If you have lost your bill and require a replacement, please email your request to revenues@hertsmere.gov.uk with your full name and address.
For more information about the Valuation Office Agency, please visit the VOA website: Council Tax challenge form - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
