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In self-contained flats or houses, the occupier is ordinarily liable for Council Tax. Landlords or their agents should inform the local authority's Council Tax section in writing whenever someone moves in or out of the property, or if it is empty.
If the property is empty, the landlord will generally be liable for Council Tax, but local authorities can offer discounted periods where the property is unoccupied and unfurnished. These discounts (if any) vary between local authorities. For example, some offer one week at a 100% discount and six months at 40% before the total amount becomes payable. Others offer longer 100% discount periods, such as one or three months, while some don’t provide any discount period at all.
Separate from any council discount, Welsh law exempts certain empty homes from council tax. Class A can apply for up to 12 months if an unoccupied home needs or undergoes major repairs or structural alterations (and for a limited period after the work); Class C can apply for up to six months for an unoccupied, unfurnished home. From 30 October 2026, a buyer of a qualifying home may receive a fresh exemption even if the previous owner’s exemption has ended, provided the relevant conditions are met. For purchases from that date, the transaction must be at fair market value. See the 2026 amending regulations and regulation 29.
Where a property is unoccupied but an agreement is still ongoing, for example, as a result of abandonment or during the period whilst an occupier moves to a new property after giving notice, whether the landlord or occupier remains liable depends on the status of the agreement whilst the property was unoccupied. Advice should be sought, but as a minimum, there must be an agreement in place that the landlord granted for at least six months and (where the agreement is beyond the fixed term) has continued as a contractual periodic agreement for the occupier to be liable in these circumstances.
Where a property is fully occupied by students undertaking full-time education courses, it becomes exempt from Council Tax, but students must apply for an exemption. Their education institution can, on request from the student/s, provide a notice confirming they are a full-time student and liable for exemption. If their agreement extends over the summer vacation, the exemption usually covers that period.
Ask students to provide proof of study to the landlord, who is liable for Council Tax and can then apply to the council for the exemption.
If there is more than one agreement for the property (e.g. if it is divided into bedsits), the property will be known as an HMO (a House in Multiple Occupation), but this should not be confused with the HMO rules landlords are more commonly familiar with (for which see later). Council Tax has separate and entirely different definitions of what counts as an HMO.
From 3 June 2026, most HMOs in Wales should be valued as a single dwelling for Council Tax purposes where appropriate. The change is made by the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026. It is intended to prevent one HMO from being split into separate internal units with separate Council Tax bands and bills.
The change applies to both licensed and unlicensed HMOs, but not to section 257 HMOs. It is not retrospective. If an HMO has already been assessed on a disaggregated basis, the owner may need to propose changes to the Valuation Office Agency if they want the valuation list amended.
Even when an HMO is billed as a single dwelling, some shared houses fall into owner-liable categories under the Council Tax liability rules, including Class C.
Class C broadly covers properties that:
The word “adapted” matters, but it is not the whole story. The question that usually decides liability is whether anyone holds a tenancy or lease of the whole dwelling.
A house can therefore be physically set up for multiple occupiers, for example, with locks on bedroom doors, and the occupiers can still be liable if the legal letting is of the whole property on one contract.
Watch the wording of the occupation contract. If parts of the property are excluded in the contract for the landlord’s use, such as a loft, garage, locked basement, storage room, or even a cupboard, some councils may argue that the occupier does not have the whole dwelling. That can push liability back onto the owner, even though everyone thought it was a whole-house let.
An occupier over 18 living alone in a property qualifies for a 25% discount on their Council Tax bill.
Local authorities may set a Council Tax rate for long-term empty properties of up to 150% of the standard liability. A ‘long-term empty property’ is a property which has been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least two years, and this is often called the ‘empty homes premium’.
The empty homes premium cannot apply to homes that are empty because the occupant lives in armed forces accommodation for job-related purposes (Class E), or to annexes used as part of the main property (Class F).