Policy to allow council tax on empty homes to be doubled has yet to be enactedA government pledge to tackle the housing crisis by giving councils more powers to crack down on empty homes has yet to be implemented, it can be revealed, leading to calls on Theresa May to act urgently. “The government’s unforgivable delay in introducing its promised new empty homes tax means councils will lose out on millions of pounds of revenue that could be spent on affordable housing. “Just like pledges to ban letting agency fees or build new starter homes, ministers have done nothing to legislate for double-rate council tax for empty properties. In the latest official comparison of poverty across the 28 countries in the European Union, the UK ranked 15th. The Local Government Association’s housing spokesman, Martin Tett, said: “We were pleased that the government listened to our call to provide councils with the ability to charge more council tax for empty homes.

Source: The Guardian March 05, 2018 20:28 UTC