A new consultation by one of the national governments within the UK advocates giving more councils power to make huge rises on council tax for second homes. 

The Scottish Government wants to know whether councils should have additional powers giving them discretion to charge up to a 100 per cent premium (so double the full rate) on council tax for second homes – or whether the councils should have powers to impose tax rises of above 100 per cent for second homes and long-term empty properties.

The SNP-Green government north of the border claims that local areas need to decide how to achieve the right balance in the use of housing to meet local needs and to support communities. 

“That is why we are also asking for views on whether the current non-domestic rates thresholds for self-catering accommodation should change, and/or if councils should have discretion to set them. We are also keen to hear your views about the current definitions of second and empty homes, the factors councils should take into account when deciding whether to apply council tax premiums and what types of accommodation/circumstances should be exempt” says the consultation. 

It continues: “The Scottish Government wants to understand how the consultation proposals can help councils make the best use of existing housing in their areas. This includes managing the numbers of short-term lets, second and long-term empty homes, where these are causing local issues. Your views will help us to assess how the proposals will affect people. We will use this information to update the partial impact assessments we published alongside the consultation.”

Propertymark, the agents’ body, comments on the consultation by saying: “Given the variation in second homes and self-catering accommodation numbers across council areas, should councils have the discretion to change the threshold locally to reflect local circumstances? In particular, whether they should have the power to increase or decrease the number of days of actual letting required for a property to be classed as self-catering holiday accommodation.”

You can see and respond to the consultation here.