Full Council 3 - Council Tax Discount

An annual event is discussing the level of Council tax that should be paid by the owners of empty properties.  I have blogged on this before (probably every year since the blog started)

The Tories always say - The council tax is a charge for services.  If no one is living in the property they are unlikely to use the same level of services, so are entitled to a discount, currently 25%  (though one tory even asked this discount to be increased!

The Lib Dems (and Labour say) - All the streets get cleaned, pavements and road need repairing, the street lights are on, the police and fire brigade respond and bins are checked to see whether they need emptying whether a home is occupied or not.  The other issue is the Councils (including County, Police, Fire Service) need a certain amount of money to run services, this means people who live in their one home have to pay more so those who can afford to have a spare empty home can have a discount.  It fails the test of fairness.

Of course, those with an empty home could choose to rent it out or choose to sell it.  They could leave it empty, but they should not be rewarded for doing so.

The issue that annoys Labour and Lib Dem councillors is we have a shortage of homes.  What sort of country leaves families in temporary B&B accommodation while family homes sit empty.   It is this argument that Tories try to avoid.  They are always banging on about trying to stop house building and yet fight against a tax change that would encourage empty homes back into use and reduce the new builds needed!

Empty homes are a national scandal and it is good that a net 21,000 have been bought back into use in the last year and the number of empty homes has reached a 7 year low, there are still far to many.

Consultation is already underway to give councils the option to remove the discount on short term empty homes, unless the owner is deceased or in care.  They are also consulting on allowing councils to charge a levy on long term empty promises.  

 

The government is paying out £19million to Councils next year for bringing empty homes back into use after the Liberal Democrats pushed for including the New Homes bonus to include empty properties.

There is also a £100m additional funding negotiated by Lib Dem Andrew Stunnell to help Councils and community groups turn empty properties into affordable homes.

In 13 years of government Labour did try.  They introduced Empty Dwelling Management Orders EDMO’s.  As of November 2010, these had bought just 40 homes back into use.

I am looking forward to working with the Labour group to implement the Liberal Democrat policies, but I still think the government should do more such as making sure that renovations that bring an empty property into use are eligible for the same VAT rates that a new building would get.

Sadly, here in Basingstoke and Deane we are at the mercy of Tory majority which means common sense failed and owners will get a discount for leaving much needed homes empty.