Owners of homes in Stockport left empty for five years or longer will see their council tax bills treble from April.
Town hall chiefs have voted to raise premiums on vacant properties to the maximum allowed by government rules.
The move is intended to pressure owners to sell-up or rent the dwellings – which often become eyesores – bringing much-needed homes back into use.
Council tax on homes left empty for more than two years was doubled this year, following the introduction of a 50 per cent charge in 2013.
But despite these efforts, the council says the number of long-term vacant homes in the borough has remained ‘reasonably static’.
However, Coun Sheila Bailey believes the tough new penalties - which see council tax treble once a property has been empty for five years - will have the desired effect.
The cabinet member for Sustainable Stockport said: “I totally support the proposal for properties that have been empty for five years or more,
“It does mean hopefully that some of them - if not all - will be brought back into use.”
But, speaking at a cabinet meeting, she raised concerns for owners who were unable to sell homes due to ‘covenants or probate’ issues.
She gave the example of a house in her Edgeley and Cheadle Heath ward which had been empty for eight years due to probate - and queried whether the council may be able to assist those who were 'tied up' with legal difficulties.
Deputy leader Coun Tom McGee said the authority would ‘look as favourably as it could’ to help people in 'exceptional circumstances'.
The decision also means that, from April 2021, those whose homes have been empty for ten years or longer will see their council tax bill increase four-fold.
The cabinet met at Stockport Town Hall on Monday, January 6.
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