Homeowners Face Double Council Tax from April

Council tax for second homes in the UK will increase by as much as double from the 1st of April 2025. Each council will be responsible for deciding which properties are classed as second homes, and whether to charge this additional tax. Second homes will be exempt from this double rate of council tax for twelve months if their owners let the property or put it on the market for sale. The rise comes in response to the UK housing shortage, and the financial difficulties councils have faced while trying to maintain essential services.

However, council tax will rise for all homeowners on April 1st, not only for those who own second homes. The amount that council tax will increase varies greatly according to area. Most London boroughs will increase their council tax by approximately 5 percent, but so far the highest increase will be in Newham, which plans to hike its council tax rates by almost 10 percent.

A Public Accounts Committee report published on Friday the 24th of January suggested that the UK’s homelessness crisis is putting pressure on local authorities ‘crumbling finances’. Councils are ‘haemorrhag[ing] funds to cover the rising costs of housing families in temporary accommodation’. The rise in council tax across the board, but particularly for people who own a second home, aims to help cover the costs of temporary accommodation for homeless people. However, the report stresses that a new approach to housing is needed to move away from the ‘unsatisfactory short-term system’ of temporary housing in the UK.

Any household occupied exclusively by full-time students is exempt from council tax, but the higher rates may encourage landlords to increase rent.