From 1 April 2016, section 139 Housing (Wales) Act 2014 amends the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to introduce an ability for a local authority to determine council tax payable in their area for ‘long term empty property’ at their discretion.
The amount that can be charged is an increase of up to 100% of the council tax (effectively making the council tax payable at a rate of up to 200%).
A property is regarded as ‘long term empty’ if it has been unoccupied continuously for one year.
A period of up to 6 weeks of occupation is disregarded when considering if it’s been in continuous occupation.
