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If it is unfurnished and no one is living in the property then no council tax is paid.
by reedf1 6y ago
If it is unfurnished and no one is living in the property then no council tax is paid.
- clort 6y agoThis is not necessarily true. In many parts of the country, you get a month free but otherwise the tax would need to be paid, which I guess is to cover landlords who are between tenants. (saves some effort setting it all up and tearing it down again when it was only empty for a week or so). Also, you may not be able to claim that month if it has been claimed in the last year.
- pmyteh 6y agoIt's actually up to the local council[0]. Oxford at least give you a month zero-rated, then start charging again (I'm in this position due to a messy move). [0]: https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/second-homes-and-empty-properties https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/second-homes-and-empty-proper...
- rory 6y agoOh wow: > You may pay less Council Tax for a property you own or rent that’s not your main home. > Councils can give furnished second homes or holiday homes a discount of up to 50%. Contact your council to find out if you can get a discount - it’s up to them how much you can get. I'm sympathetic to the messy-move case, but discounting the tax for holiday homes seems quite regressive.
- pmyteh 6y agoI agree, FWIW. The case when a property is uninhabitable because it's being rebuilt seems fair. Getting a discount just for leaving something empty (or using it once a month) does seem regressive. Fortunately(?), councils are basically all skirting bankruptcy, as a result of having their central grants slashed. So these discretionary discounts are becoming rare in actual practice.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]