An empty home is property which is not lived in as anyone’s main home.
Most unoccupied properties are charged the full Council Tax rate, whether they're furnished or not.
If you can't afford to pay Council Tax for your empty home, you can apply for an empty home discretionary discount.
If your property's been empty for over two years, you have to pay your Council Tax bill, plus a premium on top.
The premiums are set at:
If you're actively trying to sell or let your home, you can apply to have the premium waived. To apply, download and complete the Empty Home Premium Waiver Application Form.
Armed forces accommodation owned by the Secretary of State for Defence is exempt, whether occupied or not. This includes barracks and married quarters.
The Ministry of Defence pays us a contribution instead of Council Tax.
In Rutland, armed forces accommodation is at:
If you own your home and leave it empty and unfurnished, you'll be charged full council tax. You will not be charged the long term empty home premium.
If you leave your home empty but furnished, you may be able to claim a 50% discount.
If you're employed by the Ministry of Defence, you may be able to apply for their Council Tax Relief Scheme.
Some empty properties are exempt from paying Council Tax.
In some cases, the property is only exempt for a certain amount of time, and you may have to pay a charge when the exemption runs out.
Time limits start when the circumstances for exemption first apply and may not be relevant if the property changes hands.
Complete our online application form.
You must continue to pay your current Council Tax bill while you're waiting for a decision on your application - if you're unable to pay, please contact us as soon as you can: localtaxation@rutland.gov.uk
A furnished property which is no one's main home.
For example:
We take all factors involved into consideration, like:
Each case is considered individually.
You have to live elsewhere in Great Britain because it's in the terms of your employment contract to live in accommodation your employer provides to be able to carry out your job.
The discount is 50% of the charge.
There are particular rules that apply to military personnel.
No - if you live outside Great Britain there's no discounts available.
If you're employed by the Ministry of Defence, they run a Council Tax Relief Scheme for military personnel serving overseas who are liable to pay Council Tax for a property they own in Great Britain.
A property that's largely empty of furniture, to the point someone would not reasonably be able to live there - no white goods, bed or seating, for example.
A property that's both unoccupied and unfurnished.
No, but if you leave your property vacant for longer than two years, you'll not be charged the additional premium.
If your empty home's in very poor condition, you may be able to ask the Valuation Office to remove it from the valuation list.
For them to consider this, the property must be razed to the ground or beyond well beyond reasonable repair - for example, the roof's been removed or external walls have been knocked down. This option largely depends on the extent of your project. Find out what may be considered as a property in disrepair or derelict on GOV.UK.
The decision to remove your property from the list is made by the Valuation Office, not us. If they decide to remove your property from the list, we cannot charge Council Tax until it's brought back onto the valuation list.
You can email the Valuation Office at: cteast@voa.gsi.gov.uk