Properties undergoing structural alteration or repair
From the 1st April 2013 if your property is empty and unfurnished, you can receive a 50% discount (which means you have no council tax to pay) for up to twelve months, or six months after work has been completed, whichever is sooner.
Properties that are empty and unfurnished
From the 1st April 2013 if your property is empty and unfurnished, you can receive a 100% exemption (which means you have no council tax to pay) for up to one calendar month. After one calendar month full council tax will be charged for your empty property. Eastbourne Borough Council will increase the council tax charge to 150% for properties that have been empty for two or more years. (Please note that Annexes and those in the Armed Forces will not be affected by this increase).
Long Term Empty Property Premium
This is a new power to set an additional amount of council tax (a "premium") to be paid when a property has been empty for at least two years. The Council has set the maximum 50% premium, meaning that if your property has been empty for at least two years, the charge will increase to 150%. The aim of this is to try and reduce the number of long-term empty properties in our area , in order that we can get as many as possible back into use for local people.
Second Homes
From 01 April 2013 this discount will be removed and you will be required to pay a full council tax bill for your second home.
The following groups of people are not eligible for council tax discounts:
- full-time students, student nurses, apprentices and Youth Training trainees,
- patients resident in hospital,
- people who are being looked after in care homes,
- people who are severely mentally impaired,
- people staying in certain hostels or night shelters,
- 18 and 19 year olds who are at or have just left school,
- careworkers working for low pay, usually for charities,
- people caring for someone with a disability who is not a spouse, partner, or child under 18,
- members of visiting forces and certain international institutions,
