Harrow, Council Tax Premium - Empty and Furnished Properties
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PUBLIC NOTICE
Council Tax Premium - Empty and Furnished Properties
Notice is hereby given under section 11C(6) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 ('the Act') that the London Borough of Harrow, at its Council meeting on 22 February 2024, determined to vary its Council Tax Premium policy by resolving to apply the provisions of section 11C of the Act for empty furnished properties.
Under section 11C of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as inserted by section 80 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, London Borough of Harrow has determined that with effect from 1st April 2025, a premium of 100% shall apply to properties for which there is no resident and that are substantially furnished.
The premium shall be calculated by taking the Council Tax amount set for the relevant valuation band for the property concerned (assuming no reductions for any reasons) and adding to it the relevant amount calculated by reference to the percentage set out in Table 1 below.
For clarification, this would mean a property where there is no resident and which is substantially furnished, would be subject to double the amount of Council Tax set for the property's relevant valuation band (or 100% premium) as indicated in Table 1 below.
Table 1 - Empty Furnished Properties
Empty furnished property criteria giving From 1/4/2025 rise to Council Tax premium; Financial Year | |
For properties for which there is no resident and which are substantially furnished | 100% |
Following a change to section 11B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, from 1st April 2024, for properties where there is no resident and which are substantially unfurnished, the prescribed statutory timescale set out in section 11B in which a premium may apply, has changed from two years to one year. Consequently, from 1st April 2024, a premium shall become payable after a continuous period of one year in such circumstances. The one-year period shall, however, commence from the date the property became unoccupied and unfurnished and may therefore be counted from a date prior to 1st April 2024.
For clarification, this would mean a property where there is no resident and which is substantially unfurnished and has been for at least one year, would be subject to double the amount of Council Tax set for the property's relevant valuation band (or 100% premium) as indicated in Table 2 below, rather than after a two-year period that currently applies.
Table 2 - Long Term Empty and Unfurnished Properties_
Long term empty unfurnished property criteria giving rise to Council Tax premiums; | Premium amount from 1/4/2024 Financial Year |
For properties which have remained empty and unfurnished for at least one year | 100% |
For properties which have remained empty and unfurnished for less than five years | 100% |
For properties which have remained empty and unfurnished for at least five but less than ten years | 200% |
For properties which have remained empty and unfurnished for at least ten years | 300% |
Sharon Daniels, Interim Director of Finance (Section 151), London Borough of Harrow, Harrow Civic Hub, Forward Drive, Harrow HA3 8NT.
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