A council tax premium on homes left empty for a year or more has made Ceredigion County Council around £240,000, the council has said.

The council applies a 25 per cent council tax premium on empty dwellings that have been vacant for over 12 months, with the premium running alongside a council tax premium on second homes.

With the Welsh Government pushing for councils to do more to bring empty homes back into use, members of Ceredigion council’s thriving communities scrutiny committee heard that the council realises that more needs to be done, but said that would require dedicated officers and more assistance from Welsh Government.

While the council has introduced the council tax premium, that money is not ring-fenced for the authority to be used to bring empty properties back into use, and a report to the scrutiny committee also said that the premium did not seem to have had any impact on reducing the number of empty properties in the county.

The report said: “Ceredigion currently implements a 25 per cent premium on both long-term empty dwellings (over 12 months empty) and on second homes.

“In April 2019, 617 empty properties were subject to the premium.

“The additional revenue generated is estimated to be in the region of £240,000 for the long-term empties alone.

“Figures suggest that the premium has little impact on empty property numbers in Ceredigion.”

At the end of April 2019, there were 1,057 empty properties across Ceredigion, although they were spread across the county and not in recognised ‘pockets’.

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