Council Tax Empty Property Discount

If you are responsible for Council Tax on two furnished homes, for example; one is your main home and the other your second home, your bill may be reduced on one home because it is not occupied as a main home. If you believe that you may be eligible for this discount download an Empty Property Discount form(pdf, 157KB)

If you intend to download a form and return it to us you should read our Personal Information Policy before doing so.

Note that at present that you must print out the form and complete it by hand. We cannot accept forms or versions of the forms that are sent to us digitally.

Reductions to Empty Property Discounts

The government has changed the regulations regarding empty property.

Empty furnished property

From April 2004 Councils are able to set the discount for furnished unoccupied homes to a minimum of 10% - where previously the Government had legislated that we had to give 50%. This Council, together with many other Local Authorities, has decided to grant a 10% discount on such homes.

If you are required to occupy either property as a condition of your employment please tell us your full circumstances to enable us to decide whether or not you are entitled to a 50% reduction.

Empty unfurnished property

The entitlement to a maximum of 6 months exemption from council tax from the date the property becomes empty remains in place. When that exemption has expired there is no longer any discount and the full charge becomes payable.

The discounts for empty homes are agreed each year by the Council and published in the Richmond & Twickenham Times.

The decision to allow Local Authorities to reduce or remove empty property discount was made by the government. The decision on how much discount to allow was made by the Council. Should you wish to raise any further issues please address these to your MP or Councillor.