Banes Council considering doubling tax on second homes
Councillors will vote on the idea on Thursday
Councillors across Bath and North East Somerset will decide this week whether to double council tax on second homes.
At a meeting on Thursday (November 30) Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) Council will decide whether to charge extra tax on "long-term empty" homes.
It comes after the government introduced The Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 in October, which allows council's to increase the tax by 100 per cent on homes that are kept substantially furnished, but are only occupied periodically.
Records show there are 858 such homes in the area that would be impacted, but if voted through, the change would not come into effect until 1 April, 2025.
If introduced the change would raise an extra £1.84 million for the council.
A report on the idea set to go before full council said: “The recommendations in the report will either incentivise owners of second homes to sell them, thus returning them to local housing stock or increase contributions to the council and help fund vital services.”
The council is facing a £35m budget gap over the next five years and has warned it will need to make “extremely challenging” efficiencies.
The council is also facing a £6.5m overspend in the current financial year, largely driven by the council’s children’s services running £4.6m over budget due to an increasing number of looked after children and the increasing cost of home-to-school transport.
At a meeting on November 9, council leader Kevin Guy warned: “If the funding situation — particularly for adults and children’s services — is not rectified by this government or the next government, it is only a matter of time before all local authorities in the United Kingdom go bankrupt.”
Another council tax change is also being considered for long term empty homes.
Residential properties which have been unoccupied for between two and five years currently pay a 100% council tax premium, with an even higher premium for homes empty even longer.
Under another proposed change permitted under the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023, the council plans to charge the premium once a home has been empty for one year, rather than two.
Councillors will also be voting on an update to council tax support so that the housing costs and childcare elements of Universal Credit are no longer considered income.
The change would lower council tax for 2,768 households but reduce the amount of support offered to 1,127 others.
The changes would have an estimated cost to the council of £225,000.
The amount that councils can increase the tax each year is capped by the government.
Council tax for all households in Bath and North East Somerset went up 4.99% this year, the maximum amount, and council reports suggest it could again next year.
Two percentage points of that rise are ring fenced for spending on adult social care.
The proposals on second homes, long-term empty properties, and council tax support will be decided by councillors at a full meeting of Bath and North East Somerset Council on Thursday November 30.