My empty house will not sell. Will I pay double council tax?

An empty homes premium is an extra charge added on top of your normal council tax bill when a property has been left empty and substantially unfurnished for long enough. It is set by your local council, not by central government, and it is separate from the second homes premium, which applies to furnished properties that are nobody's main home.

If your house is empty because you have already moved and it has not sold yet, this is worth reading now rather than when the bill lands.

How long can my house be empty before the premium starts?

One year. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 gave councils in England the power to charge the premium after a property has been empty for one year, down from two, and that change took effect on 1 April 2024. The premium then rises the longer the property stays empty.

These are maximums. Councils choose whether to apply the premium and at what level, and not every council charges the full amount. Your bill and your council's website will tell you which policy applies to you.

Am I protected because my house is on the market?

Yes, for a limited period. From 1 April 2025 a set of mandatory exceptions came into force across England. The one that matters to a seller is Class G, which covers dwellings being actively marketed for sale.

• Class G applies for up to 12 months from the date the property was first marketed for sale.
• It ends at whichever comes first: the end of those 12 months, the sale of the property, or the point at which it is no longer actively marketed.
• The same owner may only use the sale exception once for the same dwelling. It can be used again only if the property is sold and has a new owner.
• Class I covers a property left empty following a death, for 12 months from the grant of probate or letters of administration.
• Class M covers a property undergoing major repairs or structural alterations, for up to 12 months.
• The House of Commons Library notes that the three exceptions introduced in 2025, probate, major repairs and marketing for sale or let, can be used one after the other.

Actively marketed is judged on the facts, not on a technicality. Councils look at whether the property is genuinely available, priced sensibly for the market, visible on the usual channels and being shown to buyers. A listing at a price no buyer would ever meet is the sort of thing that gets questioned.

Does the clock reset if someone moves back in?

Only if they stay long enough. When a property is reoccupied the premium stops, because the property is no longer empty. England then applies a reset period of six weeks. If the property becomes empty again within those six weeks, the premium applies again straight away. If it was occupied for longer than six weeks, a fresh one year period has to pass before any premium can be charged.

That rule exists to stop a few days of token occupation being used to clear the charge. It also means a genuine period of living in the property, or letting it, does more for you than an empty house ever will.

What happens when my 12 months runs out?

The exception ends and the premium can be applied, even though the property is still on the market and still empty. This is the point most sellers do not see coming, because nothing about the listing changes on that date. Only the bill does.

What can I actually do about it?

1. Find out your council's policy. Search your council's name with council tax empty property premium. Policies and rates differ between councils, and yours may charge less than the maximum.
2. Write down the date the property was first marketed. Your exception is measured from that date, not from the day it became empty.
3. Tell the council the property is being marketed and ask what evidence they need. Some councils require an application and a copy of the listing.
4. Ask your agent for the sold price evidence behind your asking price, not for reassurance. Nine months of an unsold empty house costs more than most price reductions.
5. Work out what a sale at a lower price genuinely leaves you with once fees, mortgage redemption and holding costs are counted. The comparison is not the price, it is the price minus another year of standing still.
6. If you inherited the property, check the probate exception separately. That clock runs from the grant of probate and can overlap with the marketing exception.

The premium does not punish you for having an empty house. It punishes you for having one for longer than you planned.

Does this apply everywhere in the UK?

The rules described here are the England rules. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements, and Welsh councils have been able to set considerably higher premiums. If your property is outside England, check your own council's published policy rather than assuming the England position applies.

What if I am buying an empty house?

This is worth knowing before you offer. A change of ownership does not reset how long a property has been empty, so if you buy a house that has already stood empty for a year or more and you do not move in straight away, the premium can fall on you. The House of Commons Library also points out that liability for a premium does not show up in the legal searches carried out when you buy.

• Ask the seller, through your solicitor, how long the property has been empty and whether a premium is currently being charged.
• Ask the council directly once you have a sale agreed. They hold the empty date, and it is the number that decides your bill.
• The premium stops the moment you move in, so a delay between completion and moving is the exposure to plan around.
• If you are renovating before moving in, check whether the major repairs exception applies to your works.

Where does this leave you?

You are not in trouble and you have not done anything wrong. You have a clock, you can find out exactly where you are on it, and you have months rather than days to act. The one thing that closes options is waiting to see what happens.

Most empty houses that will not sell were priced from a single agent's opinion. ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side by side property valuations from competing local estate agents, so you can compare what several local agents would actually list your home at, and why, before your next decision.