A premium is an additional amount of council tax to be paid on top of the standard council tax bill.
The money raised from council tax premiums is used to :
- bring long-term empty homes back into use to provide safe, secure and affordable homes, and
- support councils in increasing the supply of affordable housing and improve local communities
Long-term unoccupied properties are already charged a council tax premium. From 1 April 2024, second homes and furnished properties that are no-one's residence will also be subject to a council tax premium.
Unoccupied and furnished properties
From 1 April 2024, you will be charged a premium of 100% if you have a second home, or a furnished property that is no-one's residence. This means that you will have to pay a 200% council tax charge.
Some properties are excluded from this premium charge and will only be charged the standard amount of council tax. These are:
- a property that is for sale or to let (for up to 12 months only) ,
- an annexe that is part of your main property,
- a property that would be your main residence if you were not living in armed forces accommodation,
- a pitch with a caravan or mooring with a boat,
- a seasonal home that you cannot live in all year round, or
- job related properties.
There are also some types of second homes and furnished properties that are no-one’s residence that qualify for a
council tax discount.
Unoccupied and unfurnished properties
If a property has been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for more than 12 months there is a premium charge of 100% in addition to the standard council tax.
From 1 April 2024, properties that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for 2 years will be charged a premium of 200%. Properties that have been empty for more than 3 years will be charged a premium of 300%.
The charges for long term unoccupied properties will be:
- 200% on properties that have been unoccupied for more than 1 year (100% standard council tax charge and 100% premium charge)
- 300% on properties that have been unoccupied for more than 2 years (100% standard council tax charge and 200% premium charge)
- 400% on properties that have been unoccupied for more than 3 years (100% standard council tax charge and 300% premium charge)
Some properties are excluded from this premium charge, such as:
- a property that is for sale or to let (for up to 12 months only),
- an annexe that is part of your main property, or
- a property that would be your main residence if you were not living in armed forces accommodation.
If your property is excluded from the premium charge, you will only pay the standard amount of council tax. When the exclusion ends, you will be charged a premium.
How to apply for an exclusion
You can apply to be excluded from paying premiums on:
- a long-term unoccupied property or,
- a furnished property that is no-one’s residence.
Please email: ctax@cardiff.gov.uk
You will need to tell us:
- your council tax account number,
- the address of the property,
- details of why you think the exclusion should apply, and
- your current home address.
As of 1 April 2023, there were 911 properties that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for more than 12 months. 882 of these properties were charged a premium.
For the year 2022 to 23 a total of £483,478.58 was collected from long-term unoccupied premium charges.
The premiums we have collected are being used to tackle the problems caused by long-term unoccupied properties. We have also been able to start work on tackling other housing issues in Cardiff, such as providing affordable housing.
Housing Solutions team
With the funding from council tax premiums, we have been able to place more officers in local Hubs. These officers provide practical help and advice to prevent people from needing our homelessness service.
Since we have expanded the team, we have given support and advice to over 400 customers.
Landlord Enquiry and Tenants Service Team (LETS)
With the funding we have collected from council tax premiums, we have been able to combine our Welsh Government Leasing Scheme with our Private Rented Sector (PRS) team, to create one easy service.
We are working with private landlords across Cardiff to:
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get their properties ready for letting,
-
match tenants with suitable housing,
-
and sign their properties up to Rent Smart Wales.
This will increase the number of available houses we have across Cardiff and can provide housing to those that need it.
Since April 2023, we have:
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supported 155 people in private rented accommodation,
-
and signed up 62 properties to the Welsh Government Leasing Scheme (21 of these homes were originally unoccupied).
Housing enforcement
The council tax premiums we have collected have allowed us to work with owners of unoccupied properties to bring them back into use.
So far, we have been able to:
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bring 84 properties back into use between 2021 to 2022,
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bring 95 properties back into use between 2022 and 2023, and
-
renovate and occupy 2 properties through a Compulsory Purchase Order.
With the increase in premium charges from April 2024, we aim to bring 100 properties back into use within the financial year.