Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has undertaken research into the causes of (a) vacant and (b) long-term vacant dwellings; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to council tax (i) discounts and (ii) premiums on the reporting of such dwellings.

There are a range of reasons for why a property may be vacant for a period of time and the Government wants to see more empty homes brought back into use. Councils have the discretionary power to charge a council tax premium on second homes and long-term empty homes. However, this government has introduced exceptions to those premiums, in line with the consultation response published by the previous administration, to reflect individual circumstances.

The government does not make any reporting assessments based on the premium