PUBLISHED: 15:09 12 February 2019 Taz Ali: Local democracy reporter Broadland Council’s cabinet committee has agreed to increase council tax premiums on long-term empty homes. Picture: Ian Burt Archant 2018 Broadland Council has agreed to adopt new legislation which will see council tax on long-term empty homes quadruple in 2021. The council’s cabinet committee met on Monday to discuss the council tax premium on empty homes, which are currently set at 50pc for homes which have been empty for two years. A report to the committee recommended increasing this premium to 100pc from April 1 this year and to increase again to 200pc by April 2020 for homes that have been empty for five years. From April 2021, this will increase to 300pc for homes that have been lying dormant for 10 years or more in a bid to bring houses back into use. This would mean a homeowner of a band D property which has been vacant for more than a decade will currently pay £2,625 per year, but this will increase to £7,000 from April 2021. Simon Quilter, interim revenues and benefits manager, told committee members that since legislation was enforced in 2013 to increase council tax premiums the number of empty homes in Broadland has reduced by nearly 50pc. At the time when the premium was first introduced in 2013, there were approximately 175 properties in Broadland which had been empty for more than two years. The increase in council tax has led to that number falling… [Read full story]
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