Housing options team

A furnished property which is no one's main home.

For example:

• a property left unoccupied while waiting for tenants
• a property used as a holiday home
• an inherited property

If you have received a council tax bill this means that the property currently appears in the council tax valuation list and you will have to pay council tax for it. It is the role of the Valuation Office Agency to decide whether your property should appear in the valuation or rating list.

You will need to meet certain criteria in order to be considered for business rates. If you believe that you meet the holiday let criteria, you should complete the application for business rates for self-catering properties as soon as possible.

Customers should only complete a longer VO6048 form, used for business rates property valuation purposes, when requested to do so by the Valuation Office Agency.

We take all factors involved into consideration, like:

• where you have most of your possessions
• where you're registered for services (for example, doctors, dentists, bank, voting)
• who lives with you
• your legal interest in a property

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 derelict, undergoing major renovations, demolished or is now being used as a business, you may be able to ask the Valuation Office Agency to remove it from the valuation list.

For them to consider this, the property must be razed to the ground or well beyond reasonable repair - for example, the roof's been removed or external walls have been knocked down. They cannot delete properties that are undergoing normal levels of repair.

The Valuation Office has produced guidance on removing a property from the Council Tax list. This guidance sets out the evidence required for deletion requests. Please check that you meet the criteria before you contact them.

When you are satisfied that you meet the criteria, you can use the Valuation Office's online service to challenge your Council Tax band or submit a Council Tax challenge form.

The decision to remove your property from the list is made by the Valuation Office Agency. 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.gov.uk.