Millions of pounds have been billed to property owners after Cardiff Council announced plans to charge a premium on council tax to empty properties. Figures show the number is as high as 2.9 million pounds, with the plan hoping to encourage owners to get properties back into use.
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00:00 Cardiff Council figures show that they have given almost £3 million worth of bills to
00:06 the owners of empty properties after plans came into effect last year to charge a premium
00:11 on empty buildings.
00:13 The plans were targeting getting empty properties back into use, hoping to combat the housing
00:18 emergency that is currently taking place in Cardiff, the council said.
00:22 The plans mean that properties that have been empty for more than a year will pay double
00:26 on their council tax, with properties empty for more than two years paying triple, and
00:30 those unoccupied for more than three years being charged four times the usual council
00:35 tax rates.
00:36 £2.9 million have been charged to the more than 800 empty properties in Cardiff, but
00:42 figures released by the council say that the number has not decreased dramatically since
00:46 the start of the plans.
00:48 Council figures show that 882 properties were charged for being unoccupied in April 2023,
00:53 but that number only dropped to 808 in January 2024.
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