Outraged property developer hit by £2,800 ’empty home’ tax bill
I was hit with £2,800 council tax bill after buying an empty house: Property developer warns about little known loophole which could cost you thousands
- Ray Plant was hit with huge bill after buy home that had been empty for years
- The 54-year-old, from Burslem, has now accused a council of ‘ripping him off’
- But the council said the rule had been in place for years and was well publicised
An outraged property developer has accused a council of ‘ripping him off’ after being slapped with a £2,800 tax bill when he bought an empty house.
Ray Plant says he snapped up the two-bed semi in Bradeley, near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, for £100,000 in October last year.
But the unsuspecting 54-year-old was left dumbfounded after being hit by the shock council tax bill from Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
The semi had been unoccupied for more than two years, meaning it was subject to the ’empty home premium’ – which doubled the Band B council tax rate of £1.397.87 to a whopping £2.795.34.
Ray, from Burslem, has now lashed out at the council, accusing the authority of ‘abusing legislation’ to bump up prices. ‘I bought this house with no idea that the council was going to rip me off,’ he said.
Ray Plant (pictured) has lashed out for being slapped with a £2.795.34 council tax bill after buying a home which had been empty for years
The empty homes premium was introduced in April 2013 and designed to penalise developers and homeowners for leaving properties vacant for years.
Local authorities were initially able to hike council tax by up to 50 per cent – which increased to 100 per cent in 2019.
But the legislation has been branded by some as a stealth tax, with Mr Plant saying it he knew ‘nothing about it’, and insisting it ‘penalised’ people for taking on vacant homes and give them a new lease of life
‘I find it disgusting,’ he said. ‘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.’
Mr Plant said there should be a ‘six to nine month grace period’ when a new buyer purchases an empty home, which he said would be ‘fair’.
He 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.’
The council currently doubles council tax on properties which have been empty for at least two years.
Mr Plant, above, said: ‘I’m doing exactly what the council wants to happen and they’re refusing to lift the charge’
This increases to 200 per cent for those properties empty between five and 10 years, and then rises to 300 per cent for those empty for more than a decade.
Council boss 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.’