Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the council tax empty homes premium. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has charged extra council tax (the premium) on a property he owns but cannot rent to tenants due to disrepair. Mr X wants the Council to consider his circumstances and remove the premium.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

4. Mr X owns a property which he rents to tenants. The property has been empty for some time due to disrepair. Mr X says he cannot do repairs due to the involvement of the freeholder. Mr X applied to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to have the property removed from council tax but the VOA refused his request. The VOA is not part of the Council.
5. The law allows councils to charge a council tax premium on empty properties. The Council decided to apply the charge to empty properties in its area; the charge applies to all empty properties that meet the criteria.
6. The Council applied the premium to Mr X’s property. Mr X challenged the charge. He explained he cannot get rental income because he cannot let the property and he cannot complete the repairs due to the freeholder.
7. In response the Council explained why the charge is correct and that it cannot disapply the premium on an individual basis. It explained why the property is not exempt from council tax and referred to the VOA decision. The Council put recovery action on hold to give Mr X time to make payment arrangements. It removed some court costs and made a discretionary award of £470 to cover some of the arrears. The Council signposted Mr X to support in liaising with the freeholder.
8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The law allows councils to charge the premium on empty properties; the Council’s decision to apply the premium to Mr X’s property reflects the policy and the VOA decision. I appreciate Mr X disagrees with the decision, and has explained the financial pressures, but we are not an appeal body and have no power to tell the Council it must remove the premium.
9. The Council acted appropriately by giving Mr X time to pay, removing court costs, and making a payment to cover some of the arrears.

Back to top

Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman