A council has doubled the council tax it charges on a home a man has just bought to redevelop. The council says it is allowed to charge twice as much council tax on the house because it was left empty for two years.
But Ray Plant, who bought the house to bring it back into use, says the move will put off anyone looking to get unused houses back into use. Ray bought the semi-detached home for £100,000 and its Band B rating means the council tax should be £1,397.67.
But the council has just doubled that to £2,795.34.
Ray told StokeonTrentLive: said: “I bought this house with no idea that the council was going to rip me off. I knew nothing about the legislation.
"There’s a lack of transparency. I agree with the legislation, it’s getting the properties back into use. But to penalise the person that goes on and does it, I find it disgusting.
"The neighbours hated the way the house looked, the council was not going to do anything about it, and then I came along and now they’re doubling my council tax. When a new buyer buys it, there should be a six to nine-month grace period. It has been subject to this charge previously, you have this amount of time to bring it back into use, otherwise you’ll be charged for it too. That seems the fair way.”
Ray Plant plans to bring the derelict house back to life (Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)
Ray added: “I’m doing exactly what the council wants to happen and they’re refusing to lift the charge. It’s uninhabitable, you’ve only got to look through the window, it’s not difficult to see the house is being done up. They’re basically using good legislation and they’re abusing it.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m helping the community by bringing the house back into use. I find it a bit bizarre and it's just another way of grabbing money where you can take it. They’re not showing any common sense. They should drop the charge for new buyers of properties and put an enforcement order on it that it must be brought back into use within a certain amount of time.”
The council doubles council tax on properties which have been empty for at least two years. This increases to 200 per cent for properties empty between five and 10 years, and then 300 per cent for those empty for more than a decade.
Council leader Abi Brown said: “The council is keen to see empty properties brought back into use, however, unfortunately some owners allow them to remain empty for many years, blighting neighbourhoods and causing anti-social behaviour. A number of years ago we - along with many other councils - started to utilise our ability to increase council tax bills on empty properties to encourage such owners to bring their properties back into use.
“This was well publicised at the time with further details available on the council website, and we would always advise that potential property purchasers should make enquiries about council tax during the purchasing process. We have advised Mr Plant that if the property is uninhabitable, he can apply to the valuation office to have the property removed from rating for council tax.”
