Livid property builders hit by £2,800 ’empty home’ tax invoice
I bought a £2,800 council tax invoice after shopping for an empty home: Little-known loophole might price you hundreds, property developer warns
- Ray Plant receives large invoice after shopping for home that has been vacant for years
- The 54-year-old from Burslem now accuses council of “blackmailing him”
- However the council mentioned the rule had been in place for years and was extensively publicized
A livid property developer has accused the council of “blackmailing him” after he was hit with a £2,800 tax invoice when he purchased an empty home.
Ray Plant mentioned he snapped up a two-bedroom semi-detached flat in Bradley, close to Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, for £100,000 final October.
However the unsuspecting 54-year-old was left dumbfounded after being hit with stunning council tax payments from Stoke-on-Trent council.
The semi-trailer has been sitting idle for greater than two years, which means it’s topic to an ’empty home premium’ – doubling the Band B council price from £1.397.87 to a staggering £2.795.34.
Ray, from Burslem, has now slammed the council, accusing authorities of “misusing the laws” to drive up costs. “I did not know the council was going to tear me off after I purchased the home,” he mentioned.
Ray Plant (pictured) has been slammed for being slapped with £2.795.34 council tax after shopping for a house that had been vacant for years
The vacant residence premium was launched in April 2013 to penalize builders and owners for leaving properties vacant for years.
Native authorities will initially be capable of enhance council charges by as much as 50% – rising to 100% in 2019.
However the laws has been branded by some as a stealth tax, with Mr Plant saying he “is aware of nothing about it” and insisting it “punishes” individuals who lease vacant properties and provides them a brand new lease on life
“I feel it is disgusting,” he mentioned. “The neighbors hated the look of the home, there was nothing the council might do about it, then I agreed and now they will double my council tax.”
Mr Plant mentioned new consumers ought to have a “six to nine-month grace interval” when shopping for a vacant residence, which he mentioned was “honest”.
He added: “I am doing precisely what the committee wished to occur they usually refused to dismiss the costs.
“It isn’t habitable right here, you simply need to look out the window and it isn’t exhausting to see that the home is being renovated.” They’re mainly utilizing good laws, however they’re abusing it.
“So far as I am involved, I am serving to the group by getting the home again into service. I feel it is sort of bizarre, it is simply one other manner cash will be taken away. They are not exhibiting any widespread sense.
The council is at the moment doubling council tax on properties which have been vacant for no less than two years.
Mr Plant above mentioned: “I am doing precisely what the council desires to occur they usually refuse to dismiss the costs”
This will increase to 200% for properties which have been vacant for 5 to 10 years, after which will increase to 300% for properties which have been vacant for greater than 10 years.
Council chair Abbie Brown mentioned: “Council would like to see vacant properties introduced again to make use of, however sadly some homeowners have allowed them to sit down vacant for years, damaging communities and sparking anti-social behaviour.
“A few years in the past we – and lots of different councils – started utilizing our skill to extend council tax payments on vacant properties to encourage these homeowners to re-use their properties.
“This was well-known on the time, extra particulars can be found on the council web site and we all the time advise potential residence consumers to ask about council tax throughout the shopping for course of.
“Now we have suggested Mr Plant that if the property is just not liveable he can apply to the Valuation Workplace to have the property faraway from the council tax score.”
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