GuideCouncil Tax FAQs

The government have laid regulations on 8 October 2024 setting out exceptions to the Council Tax premiums on second homes which will come into force from 1 April 2025.

The Council Tax (Prescribed Classes of Dwellings and Consequential Amendments) (England) Regulations 2024 (legislation.gov.uk)

The exceptions to the premium are:

• Where a dwelling that is or would be a person’s sole or main residence and where that person has been provided with armed forces accommodation.
• An annexe that forms part of the same property as, and is being used as part of, a person’s sole or main residence.
• A second homes or empty homes premium may not be charged in relation to dwellings which are actively marketed for sale or let for a period of up to 12 months. A further period of exception to the premium cannot be given unless the property has been sold (where it has been marketed for sale) or subject to a tenancy granted for 6 months or longer (in case of a dwelling which has been marketed for let).
• An empty or second homes premium may not be charged in relation to a dwelling which has been exempt under Class F of the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992 (SI 1992/558) and has undergone probate (for a period of up to 12 months after the grant of probate). Class F
• A second homes premium may not be charged in relation to a dwelling which are periodically occupied in certain job-related circumstances, a pitch occupied by a caravan or a mooring occupied by a boat, or where a planning condition prevents permanent occupancy