Some unoccupied properties qualify for an exemption from Council Tax, so there is no Council Tax to pay for them. The list below gives details of the exempt classes.
Please note: Council Tax law has changed, and from 01.04.13. former exemptions class A (property needing/undergoing repair) and class C (unoccupied and unfurnished) no longer exist. From 01.04.13, there is no discount for properties in either of those circumstances so the full amount of Council Tax is payable.
There is no right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal about the council’s decision not to allow a discount for empty properties in Leeds.
If you have a property which is in a poor state of repair, or undergoing substantial refurbishment work or structural alterations, the Council will have to charge you for it unless the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) deletes it from the Council Tax list. However the VOA will only do this if it is derelict and uninhabitable, or if the work is substantial and the property is being rebuilt or structurally altered. The VOA has produced a factsheet giving more information about this - use the link on the right to view this factsheet.
Exempt properties
- Unoccupied property owned, and last occupied, by a registered charity. (Applies for a maximum period of 6 months.)
- Property unoccupied because the liable person is in prison.
- Property unoccupied because the liable person is staying long-term in a care home, hostel or hospital. If the person is a tenant, the exemption will stop at the end of the tenancy. If the person is the owner of the property, it must have been their main residence to qualify for an exemption.
- Property unoccupied because the liable person has died, they owned the property and neither probate nor letters of administration have yet been granted. This applies until probate/letters of administration have been granted and for 6 months afterwards (unless someone else becomes the owner). The exemption cannot be granted if the property has been occupied after the date of death for more than six weeks.
- Property unoccupied because the law says nobody is allowed to live in it.
- Property kept vacant for a religious minister to move into.
- Property unoccupied because the person who last lived there, who is still the owner or tenant, has moved to another address to be cared for (Exemption I).
- Property unoccupied because the person who last lived there, who is still the owner or tenant, has moved to another address to care for someone who is elderly, ill or disabled (Exemption J).
- Property unoccupied because the person who last lived there, and who would normally be liable, is now a student living somewhere else.
- Property unoccupied because the mortgagee has repossessed it.
- Property unoccupied because it is the responsibility of a trustee in bankruptcy.
- An empty caravan pitch or boat mooring.
- Unoccupied domestic property which is part of another domestic property and cannot be rented out separately (for example, unoccupied "granny flats").
Claim forms are available below for some of these exemptions; where no form is available, contact us using the form below with full details of the property and explain which exempt class you think it falls into.
