Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 6 October 2021 the Executive Committee considered the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Council Tax Discounts and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

1.       That the default Council Tax Reduction Scheme be ADOPTED with effect from 1 April 2022, with a minor revision to the national working age regulations to allow for a de minimis tolerance for income changes of £10 or less per week.

2.       That authority be delegated to the Head of Finance and Asset Management, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to agree the uprating of the working age regulations incorporated into the local Council Tax Reduction Scheme in line with those announced by the Department for Work and Pensions.

3.       That options for the working age Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2023/24 are formally reviewed during the 2022/23 financial year.

4.       That the following Council Tax discounts be ADOPTED effective from 1 April 2022:

·        The discount for unoccupied and substantially unfurnished properties is 25% for a maximum period of six months.

·        The discount for properties which are vacant and require major repair work to render them habitable is 25% for a maximum period of 12 months.

·        The discount for unoccupied furnished properties (second homes) is zero.

·        An empty homes premium of an additional 100% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least two years, but less than five years.

·        An empty homes premium of an additional 200% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least five years, but less than ten years.

·        An empty homes premium of an additional 300% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least ten years.

34.15           At its meeting on 6 October 2021, the Executive Committee had considered the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Council Tax Discounts and recommended to Council that the default Council Tax Reduction Scheme be adopted with effect from 1 April 2022, with a minor revision to the national working age regulations to allow for a de minimis tolerance for income changes of £10 or less per week; that authority be delegated to the Head of Finance and Asset Management, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to agree the uprating of the working age regulations incorporated into the local Council Tax Reduction Scheme in line with those announced by the Department for Work and Pensions; that options for the working age Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2023/24 are formally reviewed during the 2022/23 financial year; and that the following Council Tax discounts be adoptedeffective from 1 April 2022: the discount for unoccupied and substantially unfurnished properties is 25% for a maximum period of six months; the discount for properties which are vacant and require major repair work to render them habitable is 25% for a maximum period of 12 months; the discount for unoccupied furnished properties (second homes) is zero; an empty homes premium of an additional 100% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least two years, but less than five years; an empty homes premium of an additional 200% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least five years, but less than ten years; and an empty homes premium of an additional 300% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least ten years.

34.16         The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 129-133.

34.17         The Chair of the Executive Committee proposed the recommendation and the Vice-Chair seconded it.

34.18         A Member referred to paragraph 4 of the report, properties which were vacant but required major repair work to make them habitable, and questioned how that would be policed. In response, the Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that this was driven by case law. There was no definition as such but essentially it would be a property that someone could not live in. Every property received a visit from an inspector and there was a rigorous process to follow when determining properties that met that criteria. Another Member questioned what was being done to bring empty properties back into use and the Housing Services Manager indicated that this was something that would come forward through the review of the Housing Strategy; this would involve working with other services such as Council Tax, Housing and Environmental Health to look at identifying properties and how they could be brought back into use.

34.19         Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          1. That the default Council Tax Reduction Scheme be                                            ADOPTED with effect from 1 April 2022,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34

To recommend to Council the adoption of the default  Council Tax Reduction Scheme from 1 April 2022 with a minor revision to the national working age regulations to allow for a de minimis tolerance for income changes of £10 or less per week and a number of Council tax discounts.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

1.       That the default Council Tax Reduction Scheme be ADOPTED with effect from 1 April 2022, with a minor revision to the national working age regulations to allow for a de minimis tolerance for income changes of £10 or less per week.

2.       That authority be delegated to the Head of Finance and Asset Management, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to agree the uprating of the working age regulations incorporated into the local Council Tax Reduction Scheme in line with those announced by the Department for Work and Pensions.

3.       That options for the working age Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2023/24 are formally reviewed during the 2022/23 financial year.

4.       That the following Council Tax discounts be ADOPTED effective from 1 April 2022:

·        The discount for unoccupied and substantially unfurnished properties is 25% for a maximum period of six months.

·        The discount for properties which are vacant and require major repair work to render them habitable is 25% for a maximum period of 12 months.

·        The discount for unoccupied furnished properties (second homes) is zero.

·        An empty homes premium of an additional 100% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least two years, but less than five years.

·        An empty homes premium of an additional 200% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least five years, but less than ten years.

·        An empty homes premium of an additional 300% is levied on properties that have remained unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least ten years.

49.1          The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 253-257, provided the Council Tax Reduction Scheme including an update on the annual review of Council Tax discounts and sought approval for their adoption effective from 1 April 2022. Members were asked to consider the report and make a recommendation to the Council.

49.2          The Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that the report recommended keeping the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2022/23 primarily due to the continued uncertainty of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable residents; however, the recommendation was also that the scheme be reviewed during the 2022/23 financial year. The report illustrated the cost to the Council of the working age Council Tax Reduction Scheme in lost income as well as providing the detail around the cost of the Council Tax discounts – they seemed to be working effectively in terms of the ability to collect and, as the property market was relatively fluid at the moment, it was recommended that those discounts remain the same for the 2022/23 year.

49.3          A Member expressed interest in the fact the number of empty properties was quite low and questioned what the Council did to contact owners about bringing their properties back into use. In response, the Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that, from a Council Tax perspective, there was clear legislation to incentivise bringing properties back into use. The Head of Community Services explained that, from an empty homes perspective, the Council had aspirations/powers to bring them back into use and this could also be incentivised which would be reflected in the housing strategy briefing being made to Members the following day.

49.4          Accordingly, it was