Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the council tax empty homes premium. This is because the Council will invite the complainant to apply for discretionary financial support.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council did not give advance notice of a planned increase in the empty homes council tax premium. Mrs X says the Council should honour its initial agreement and charge the premium after two years.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

4. Councils can charge extra council tax (a premium) on empty properties. Councils have discretion to decide when the premium will start.
5. Until April 2025 the Council applied the premium after a property had been empty and unfurnished for two years. In 2024 it decided to reduce the period to one year from April 2025.
6. Mrs X has an empty property and thought she would not incur the premium until the property had been empty for two years. She says she would have worked to get the property ready to rent after one year if she had known about the change from 2025. Mrs X says the change will have a financial impact.
7. The Council explained the background to the changes and said it could not announce the new rules until they came into force.
8. The Council’s policy confirms the new rules from April 2025 and says that if they will cause financial hardship the person can apply for discretionary support (section 13A relief). If the Council rejects the application the person could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
9. The Council did not invite Mrs X to apply for discretionary support although it says it signposted her to the policy.
10. I asked the Council to contact Mrs X to invite an application for discretionary support. The Council agreed. This is a satisfactory response as it will give Mrs X the chance to ameliorate the financial impact and, if the application is rejected, she can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. We have no power to tell the Council it must not apply the new rules to Mrs X and we cannot reduce Mrs X’s council tax.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council will contact Mrs X to invite an application for discretionary support.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman