COUNCILLORS in the valleys have called on owners of long-term empty homes in their area to “do the right thing” and turn them back into homes.
Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT)’s full council meeting on Wednesday, September 25 approved plans to make owners of properties empty for more than three years pay treble the standard rate and owners of homes empty for between one and three years pay double the standard rate.
This means the premium would be 100% for those which have been empty for between one and three years so their liability would be double the standard rate of council tax.
The level of premium would then step up and be set at 200% for those properties which have been empty for more than three years meaning they would pay treble the standard rate of council tax.
Councillor Andrew Morgan, Labour leader of the council, said the premiums on empty properties had been successful in driving down the number of empty properties and that it is a “carrot and stick” approach because there are grants available.
He also said that a substantial proportion of the owners of empty properties do not live in RCT and that residents “absolutely want to see something done about it.”
He said there are exemptions but added “where people own a property and for no reason are just keeping it empty and almost forgot about it we do need to increase the premium.
“It’s not just about raising the extra three quarters of a million pound it’s about asking people to do the right thing. Let’s turn these empty houses back into homes.”
Councillor Christina Leyshon, Labour, agreed saying “these owners should do the right thing”, describing these properties are an eyesore.
Councillor Sera Evans of Plaid Cymru said although the Plaid Cymru group is in total support of the interventions to bring empty properties back into use, they cannot ignore concerns about the one to two-year group.
She asked for a decision on the proposal for those empty between one and two years to be deferred until there is further scrutiny and that scrutiny may find that this group needs more support and discretion to be applied.
Cllr Morgan said that Labour wouldn’t support the amendment but that this could go to scrutiny to scrutinise how it is working.
The council report said in RCT there are 1,065 properties which have been empty for up to six months, 608 from seven to 12 months, 586 empty between one and two years, 247 between two and three years, 226 between three and five years, and 459 which have been empty for more than five years.
The level of premium on second homes would remain at 100% and the changes to the premium for long-term empty properties would be introduced and effective from April 2025.
The council would write to each home owner, once a decision is made, to advise them of the forthcoming changes.
The cabinet report said that where it becomes clear that there is no realistic prospect of an owner taking any action to enable reuse then the council could take direct action to intervene.
This could include compulsory purchase order (CPO) proceedings.
The premium level changes would bring in additional revenue through the council tax of around £750,000 a year but this will be subject to review and confirmation based on exceptions.
Additional revenue raised would support the continuation of the council’s empty homes strategy, the report said.
Overall, 157 responses were received to the consultation and 53% were owners of empty properties in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The consultation shows that 57.5% of all respondents disagreed with the proposal to charge a 100% premium for those properties empty between one and three years and 200% premium for properties empty for more than three years.
The report said that the majority of people who stated they were residents are more likely to agree (66.2%) than those responding directly as empty property owners (10.4%).
