Council Tax
Empty Properties
If you own a property in which no one lives you may be entitled to a discount or exemption from council tax depending on how long your property has been empty and what is happening to it.
Your property must be substantially unfurnished. If it is empty and requires no structural alteration or repair work then it is exempt for a period of 6 months.
Second Home application form 
PDF 134K
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Please note: This applies irrespective of the ownership. If it remains no one's main home after this date you will have to pay council tax but you will be given a discount of 10%.
However, if your property requires or is undergoing structural alteration or repair work the period of exemption can last up to 12 months.
Uninhabitable application form PDF 123K
After the period of exemption ends, if the property circumstances remain unchanged you will have to pay council tax with a discount of 10%.
Please note: If your property is occupied for less than 6 weeks in between exempt periods, you can only be granted the remainder of any exemption period.
Similar rules apply to caravan pitches and boat moorings, where a caravan or boat that is normally used as someone's main home is unoccupied. If the pitch or mooring is not used at all it is exempt until it is used again.
Unoccupied Furnished Properties
We give a 10% discount for furnished properties, for example second homes, as long as the property is not anyone's main home.
Second Home application form PDF 134K
New properties
If you own a new property (either as part of a new development or is reconstructed to form different properties), for council tax purposes we will serve on you a legal document called a completion notice.
This notice sets the date from which the new property will appear in the council tax valuation list. From this date any council tax will cease to be payable for any former property that stood on the site.
If the property remains empty, council tax is payable by the owner 6 months from the date shown on the notice. If the property continues to remain empty, we will give the owner a 10% discount.
At anytime when the property becomes occupied council tax will be payable.
Claiming Discount or Exemption
Please complete 1 of the downloadable discount or exemption application forms.
After receipt of the completed form, we will arrange for an inspector to visit your property and confirm that it is empty.
After that it will be visited again on a regular basis to check qualification. We may need to have your telephone number or email address for any enquiry.
