Increased council tax on empty homes will encourage owners to bring them back into use, Scotland’s Housing Minister Margaret Burgess has said.
Parliament has passed the Unoccupied Properties Bill, which will allow local authorities to charge up to double the current level of council tax on certain homes that have stood empty for more than a year.
There are more than 25,000 long-term empty homes in communities across Scotland and this move is part of a package of measures to reduce that number, and turn them into new homes for families and individuals.
Further measures in the Bill will reduce rates relief on empty commercial properties, providing greater incentives for owners to seek occupants for empty shops and offices, and offer a fifty per cent rates discount to anyone taking on a shop or office that has been empty for twelve months under our Fresh Start scheme.
Housing Minister Margaret Burgess said: ‘While people across Scotland need new homes, it is completely unacceptable that 25,000 houses are lying empty long term and of no use to anybody. Not only that, empty homes can become a magnet for vandalism and anti-social behaviour, dragging down whole communities.’
‘The ability to increase council tax on empty properties will give councils a new and crucial tool to tackle this problem and encourage owners to bring homes back into use. Along with other measures like our Empty Homes Loan Fund, which is investing some £4 million in renovating empty homes to provide extra affordable housing and wider work being taken forward by Councils as a result of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, we believe we can significantly reduce the number of wasted, empty homes across Scotland.’
Local Government Minister Derek Mackay said: ‘Empty commercial properties are a blight on our high streets and these reforms will help bring them back into use and bring new life to our town centres. Scotland already has the most competitive rates regime in the UK and this Bill will offer a fifty per cent discount to anyone bringing a shop or office that has been empty for twelve months back into use thanks to our new rates relief, Fresh Start. It will also encourage the owners of these premises to find occupants and get the doors open for business.’
‘We need to get these buildings back into use to regenerate our High Streets, and by reducing rates for new occupants we can help this happen. These measures will also reinforce the wider work that is going on as part of our Town Centre Review.’
The Scottish Government recently consulted on draft council tax regulations to set out how the council tax increase will work in practice. These regulations are expected to be laid before Parliament in December so that Councils can, if they wish, start charging a council tax increase from April 2013.
Responses to the consultation are currently being considered so may be subject to some changes, but the Scottish Government proposed that the council tax regulations would:
– Continue to provide a full council tax exemption for empty and unfurnished homes for the first six months they are empty.
– Allow councils to offer a discount of between 10 and 50 per cent for homes empty for between 6 and 12 months (currently a 50 per cent discount must be provided during this period).
– Allow councils flexibility to apply different rates of discount or increase in different parts of their area or to increase council tax charges the longer a home has been empty.
– Require councils not to impose an increase for up to two years after becoming empty for homes being marketed for sale or let – these owners would still pay council tax (unless subject to another exemption), but would get a discount.
– Define a long-term empty home as a home which is unoccupied, but can be furnished or unfurnished.
Scottish Government News: LINK
