EHP Exceptions - Government Scraps "Genuinely For Sale" Proposal

The government has listened to the representations made by the Empty Homes Network and other organisations and decided that homes that are "genuinely for sale or rent" should not be included in the exceptions from the Empty Homes Premium. The Empty Homes Network argued strongly that such an exception was neither practical nor justified on policy grounds, given that an owner would have had 2 years in which to bring the empty home back into use. Read more on the Empty Homes Network website.

Councils to Get Full Flexibility on Council Tax Discounts

A letter written to Councils at the end of July apparently indicates the government's intention to offer councils complete flexiblity over the level of discounts for empty homes and periods of time for which they could apply.

The letter states:

    In particular authorities sought clarification on the flexibility to vary the level of discount over time (for example, allowing a discount to be applied for a period [of] a few months to benefit short-term empty homes, rather than removing it completely). Ministers have carefully considered these representations. In keeping with the spirit of the proposed reforms, the Government intends to allow councils complete discretion over the level of council tax discount and the time-period for which it may apply to an empty home.

This would seem to allow for example a one week 100% discount to avoid billing trivial amounts, It is less clear whether different levels of discount could be applied for different time-periods on a sliding scale, e.g. from 100% to 50% to 0% (the letter refers to "the time-period" in the singular).  Read more on the Empty Homes Network website.

Government to Scrap Council Tax Reliefs

According to a story in the Sunday Independent, Andrew Stunell is expected to use the Empty Homes Network National Empty Homes Conference as the opportunity to announce the removal of empty homes discounts and exemptions as proposed during a consultation exercise in the Autumn.  The key measures are expected to be:

    *the removal of the 6 month exemption class "C" for unfurnished empties

    *the removal of the minimum 10% discount for second homes

    *the introduction of an Empty Homes Premium for homes empty longer than      2 years

The particular set of measures can be inferred from the "£420million" in the headline - this was the total calculated additional tax income if all the measures described in the consultation.  Read more on the Empty Homes Network website.

HCA Empty Homes Programme Cut

The HCA has revealed that £30million has been set aside for the Empty Homes Community Grants Fund, leaving no more than £70million for bids to the HCA's Empty Homes pot which are currently being assessed. Bidders for the HCA funding stream may be disappointed at the reduced sum of money, whereas those looking to support Community Grant Fund bids will be encouraged to learn that up to £30million is definitely available for the programme. Local auhorities sitll have until 17th April to develop partnerships with community groups and assist in bids to the Community Gant Fund. CLG Guidance states that up to £30million will available depending on the quality of the bids. Read more on the Empty Homes Network website.