Through charging the maximum permitted by the legislation, owners of empty properties are likely to be encouraged to bring empty properties back into use more quickly than under the current charges. There are negative effects on communities where empty properties fall into disrepair and can be subject to anti-social behaviour.
The Council wants to reduce the number of long-term empty properties and tackle a shortage of affordable housing by encouraging property owners to bring empty homes back into use for local people.
In 2023, the government introduced new legislation, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (sections 79 and 80) that permitted local authorities to impose an empty homes premium after one year instead of two. The definition of an empty property for council tax purposes is a dwelling which has ‘no one resident’ and is ‘substantially unfurnished’. The Act provides that from 1 April 2024, a property can be charged an empty homes premium of 100% after one year, even if it becomes empty before 1 April 2024.
At a full Council meeting held on 18 September 2024, City of Wolverhampton Council formally agreed to adopt changes to the Empty Homes Premium as set by the Government. Information on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 can be found on the government website.
If your property is unoccupied and unfurnished, you will have to pay the full current council tax charge during the first 12 months after which a premium charge would be applicable. Any periods of occupation / short furnishing of six weeks or less will be disregarded when considering how long a property has been empty. Periods of occupation for six weeks or less will not start a new period of one year before charging the empty homes premium.
If your property has been empty for:
- up to a year, then you are not charged an additional premium, but you must pay a 100% council tax rate (No Premium applicable)
- Properties empty and unoccupied for 1-5 years, you must pay a 100% premium council tax rate (this means you will be charged twice the normal rate - 100% + 100% premium )
- Properties empty and unoccupied for 5-10 years, you must pay a 200% premium council tax rate (this means you will be charged three times the normal rate - 100% + 200% premium)
- Properties empty and unoccupied for more than 10 years, you must pay a 300% premium council tax rate (this means you will be charged to pay four times the normal rate - 100% + 300% premium
This premium applies to the property; a change of ownership or tenancy will not affect the premium and the 12-month period does not start again with each change. If when you purchased or leased your property it had already been empty and unfurnished for one year or more, you will have to pay the additional premium. The premium can only be removed by bringing your property back into use.
| Empty Property Period | Average Band A charge based on 2024/2025 charge | % Premium charged | Example of Total Amount Payable from 01/04/2025 (Based on 2024/25 charge) |
| Properties empty and unoccupied for less than 1-year | £1,530.01 | 0% | £1,530.01 |
| Properties empty and unoccupied for 1-5 years | £3,060.02 | 100% | £3,060.02 (£1,530.01 charge and £1,530.01 premium) |
| Properties empty and unoccupied for 5-10 years | £4,590.03 | 200% | £4,590.03 (£1,530.01 charge and £3,060.02 premium) |
| Properties empty and unoccupied for more than 10 years | £6,120.04 | 300% | £6,120.04 (£1,530.01 charge and £4,590.03 premium) |
The exceptions if applicable (subject to meeting the conditions and evidence requirement) may potentially remove the additional premium charge, leaving the standard 100% council tax charge payable.
Application
Long-term empty homes
Definition
Dwelling which is or would be someone’s sole or main residence if they were not residing in job-related armed forces accommodation
Supporting Evidence Required
- Payslip detailing 'contribution in lieu of Council Tax' (CILOCT) for Armed Forces Personnel
Application
Long-term empty homes
Definition
Annexes forming part of, or being treated as part of, the main dwelling
Supporting Evidence Required
- Copy of section 106 (Town and Country Planning Act 1990) Agreement (Planning Conditions / restrictive covenants) confirming restriction preventing independent sale / letting or planning approval as an ancillary dwelling, not a separate property.
Application
Long-term empty homes
Definition
Dwellings being actively marketed for sale (12 months limit); one off exception applicable to the same owner.
Subject to above the exception will end if any of the following condition is met:
- Dwelling has been sold
- Dwelling is no longer actively marketed for sale
- 12-month period has ended
Supporting Evidence Required
- Details of listing on advertised websites, for example estate agent websites such as Rightmove and Zoopla, or evidence of other ways in which the property is being marketed .
- Copy of contract with an estate agent.
- Estate agent listings or sales particulars if privately marketed.
- An Energy Performance Certificate issued within the last 10 years from date of application under Class G (required when a property is built or sold)
Application
Long-term empty homes
Definition
Dwellings being actively marketed for let (12 months limit); the same owner may make use of the exception multiple times but only after the dwelling has been let for continuous 6 months since the exception last applied.
Subject to above the exception will end if any of the following condition is met
- Dwelling has been let
- Dwelling is no longer actively marketed for letting
- 12-month period has ended
Supporting Evidence Required
- Copy of contract with a letting agency
- Estate agent listings or letting agent brochures
- A contract with an estate agent / confirmation they are the managing agent
- An Energy Performance Certificate issued within the last 10 years from the date of application
- A valid gas safety certificate issued within the last 12 months from the date of application
- If Registered Social Landlords: Housing lists of properties being offered for rent
Application
Long-term empty homes
Definition
Unoccupied dwellings which fell within exempt Class F and where probate has recently been granted (12 months from grant of probate / letters of administration)
Supporting Evidence Required
- We may arrange a visit / request additional information if needed.
Application
Long-term empty homes only
Definition
Empty properties requiring or undergoing major repairs or structural alterations (12 months limit)
Supporting Evidence Required
- Provide proof Surveyor’s report / structural engineer assessment
- Building Control notices / planning permission documents
- Insurance claim documents in case of fire, flood and subsidence confirming extent of damage.
- Photographic evidence
- Utility bills showing usage
- Contractor quotes & invoices detailing ongoing work undertaken
- We may arrange a visit / request additional information if needed.
If from the 1 April 2025 you believe your property would fall under one of the classes of exceptions below, please complete the online application form and provide the relevant evidence.
When contacting us, please quote the full property address and property reference number or council tax reference number.
Government legislation has previously enabled Councils to charge a premium on a class of property that has been unoccupied and unfurnished for two years or more. The premium amounts are listed above. Every time your property hits one of the milestones of being empty (1 year, 5 years, 10 years) the premium charge applicable will be listed on your council tax bill.
On 26 October 2023 the Levelling up and Regeneration bill received Royal Assent. This enabled Councils to charge a council tax premium for properties that have been empty for 1 year or more from 1 April 2024.
At a full Council meeting held on 18 September 2024, City of Wolverhampton Council formally agreed to adopt changes to the Empty Homes Premium as set by the Government.
| Long term empty - Length of time empty | Premium Charge From 1 April 2021 | Premium Charge From 1 April 2025 |
| One to two years | No Premium Charge | 100% Premium charge |
| Two to five years | 100% Premium charge | 100% Premium charge |
| Five to 10 years | 200% Premium charge | 200% Premium charge |
| 10 years or more | 300% Premium charge | 300% Premium charge |
If your Council Tax Bill from 01/04/2025 includes a premium charge, appeals against the Council’s decision may be made in accordance with Section 16 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
The taxpayer must in the first instance write to the Council outlining the reason for their appeal. Once received the council will then consider whether any additional information has been received which would justify a change to the original decision and notify the taxpayer accordingly.
Where the taxpayer remains aggrieved, a further appeal can then be made to the Valuation Tribunal. This further appeal should be made within 2 months of the decision of the Council not to grant any reductions. Full details can be obtained from the Council’s website or from the Valuation Tribunal Service website.
This premium charge is set against the property and not the individual council tax account. This means if you purchase a property that has already been empty for over 1 year before you purchased it or it goes over a year empty after you purchase it, it will be liable for the above applicable premium charge.
You are notifying the authority that you are living in a property (as your / if you are a landlord; tenant's sole or main residence), that City of Wolverhampton Council has recorded as being either an empty property or a second home. In order for our records to be updated you will need to provide the Council with information and upload evidence to support change in occupation. Please contact us as soon as possible with as much information as you can provide. We may also need to visit your property to confirm occupation. Examples of evidence are below:
- Your / tenant's contact details: Phone & Email
- Tenancy Agreement
- Copies of utility bills (water/gas/electric/TV licence/Internet)
- Copy of driving licence detailing address
- Copy of letters from HMRC or Department for Work and Pensions Letters
- Copy of Vehicle Ownership V5C log book detailing address
- full names of any adults over the age of 18 that lives there
- the date you / they moved into the property
- where you / they have moved from (if known) and any extra information you can provide to us
We are not able to move someone into a property and remove a premium charge unless it is their sole or main residence for council tax purposes.
A dwelling may be entitled to a council tax premium exemption under ‘class M’ for up to a maximum of 12 months from the date the property became unoccupied and unfurnished, providing the property is undergoing major structural alterations or undergoing major repair work to render it habitable due to a flood fire or subsidence.
There is no discount or exemption for these properties and the full charge of Council Tax is payable. If the property is derelict and cannot be lived in, you may be able to get it removed from the Valuation List. You should make any further inquiries to the Valuation Office Agency.
For further information please read the Valuation Office guidance.
While an appeal is being made you are still liable to pay the full amount of council tax on the demand. You need to keep paying the instalments to avoid court action. If the appeal is successful, you will receive a refund.
If you are experiencing financial hardship which means you are unable to pay the additional premium charge, please contact us as we may be able to help. In order to review a premium charge in full you will need to complete an application under our discretionary 13a reduction scheme. Full details of our policy and application form can be found on this dedicated page.
Please visit the following page to consider other ways of reducing your Council Tax bill. Help may be available to reduce these charges in certain circumstances shown below:
- Unoccupied properties owned by a charity
- Unoccupied property where the previous liable person is deceased, and no other person is liable.
- Unoccupied property because of a legal prohibition
- Unoccupied property but retained for a minister of religion
- Unoccupied property and a mortgagee is in possession
- Unoccupied property and a trustee in bankruptcy is liable
- Unoccupied annexe of an occupied dwelling
- Unoccupied property because the liable person is in detention
The City of Wolverhampton Council is committed to protecting public funds and ensuring that premiums are correctly charged.
A taxpayer who tries to reduce their Council Tax liability by falsely declaring their circumstances, providing a false statement or evidence in support of their application, may have committed an offence under The Fraud Act 2006.
Where the Council suspects that such a fraud may have been committed, this matter will be investigated as appropriate and may lead to criminal proceedings being instigated.
If you have received a notification about empty properties premium charge by email no-reply@parisdeliver.io please be advised this is our valid email address to send notifications to our customers. This email cannot be used to report changes in relation to Council Tax. For further details please visit Council Tax.
- Properties being actively marketed for sale
- Properties being actively marketed for let
The above 2 exceptions can apply for up to 12 months from the point from 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 has been let for a continuous period of at least 6 months since the exception last applied.
We cannot consider a property for Class M exception if it is a property that is in poor repair (rather than being truly derelict) or is undergoing what we consider to be normal levels of repair.
What we consider to be poor repair
If a property is capable of a normal level of repair without changing the character of the property it is in poor repair, rather than derelict or requiring major repairs or structural alterations.
Character covers things like the size of the property, its features, its age, the materials it is made from and its relationship to the overall plot. Unlike a truly derelict property, a property in poor repair does not need significant structural reconstruction but rather a normal level of repair. A normal level of repair includes:
- internal/external redecoration
- minor plaster/ceiling repairs
- renewal of kitchen and bathroom fittings
- replacement of electric wiring, central heating system
- repair of localised wet rot
- minor roof repairs
- replacement windows
- the treatment of damp patches
In these circumstances, we will not consider the application of Class M. We would need evidence that the repairs required are more significant than normal levels of repair and the property is truly derelict.
We can’t reduce the Council Tax Premium because the property is in a poor state of repair. This ensures that all taxpayers are treated equally and that nobody has a reduction just because their property has not been looked after.
Example features of a property undergoing a major repair or structural alterations
For Council Tax purposes of Class M exception, major repair or structural alterations will be defined as significant redevelopment or reconstruction work affecting most of a property.
Works will be substantial, and of a much greater scale than normal repairs.
While works are ongoing, the property will not be capable of being lived in. If you are living in the property, or it is capable of being lived in, we will not be able to apply the premium exception.
Examples of major renovation include:
- structural alterations
- stripping out of walls, floors, ceilings, fixtures and fittings
- a repair scheme following fire or flood damage, affecting most of the property
- many roof tiles or slates missing, leading to extensive water damage in multiple rooms
- collapsed ceilings
- damaged floor joists
- extensive wet or dry rot that has spread to joists, staircases or other structural elements
- missing window frames/external doors
- vegetation growing inside
- stripped wiring and pipework
- other structural problems
A property will normally need to display many of the listed features for us to apply the exception.