Beware empty house premiums apply to the property not owner!

Beware empty house premiums apply to the property not owner!

0:03 AM, 2nd February 2023, About 2 years ago 4

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Hello, Beware of Buckinghamshire Council rules!! Buckinghamshire Council apply long term empty penalties to a house not the owner.

So, if you buy an empty house you can incur up to four times the normal council tax.

They also don’t allow the new owner to apply for a 50% discount on council tax for major structural repairs etc if the property has already been the subject of a long term unoccupancy premium.

So, someone might buy a dilapidated house at auction thinking it’s a bargain and find they owe the council between double and quadruple the normal council tax and they will also have a massive repair bill for the house.

In our case that’s exactly what happened, and we are now subject to double the council tax (£6,000 PA) that houses in the village worth millions are paying.

The rules are very deceptive, and the new owner is not informed.

This council have no intent to get empty properties back to the market. Their only intent is to fund the huge salaries that their executives get paid.

The salary of the chief executive is £220k plus expenses. That is triple what MP’s get paid and 1.5 times what the prime minister gets paid. The rest of the committee are on around £170k per year. That’s double what MP’s get paid.

The roads in the local area are disintegrating.

I believe the Conservatives have recently made laws that allow these highly paid executives in councils to force through these draconian penalties.

This behaviour is counterproductive and keeping houses off the market.

Can anyone comment on this and the legality of it?

Thank you,

Mark


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Boris

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13:42 PM, 2nd February 2023, About 2 years ago

I don’t think you will find this is unusual. Similar happened to myself in Leicestershire

Nick Raynor-Banks

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14:35 PM, 2nd February 2023, About 2 years ago

Currently having the same issues with Nottingham City as well. Takes them 6 weeks to respond to queries, but they can turn around a new demand in 21 hours!

Simon M

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15:45 PM, 2nd February 2023, About 2 years ago

This is national legislation brought in about 10 years ago. Initially some local authorities were more relaxed but now they're all equally zealous. There may be an exemption or some allowance if the property is seriously uninhabitable - but if you want to challenge be prepared for an inspection visit.

See gov.uk for the details https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-empty-homes-premium

LaLo

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16:30 PM, 2nd February 2023, About 2 years ago

They’re after money - pure and simple as the government subs have gone! On another note - 20 miles per hour zones are popping up everywhere and the signs are so small - they’re hardly noticeable - money again!

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