Contents
- How it works
- Second homes premium
- Why we're charging you a premium
- Exceptions from a second home premium charge
- If your property is used as a holiday let
- If you need to put your second home up for sale
- If your property is still empty but no longer furnished
- Properties owned by businesses
- How we will use the income from the premium
- If you own two (or more) properties and wish to claim your partner or family live separately to you in them
- Advice about second homes for HMRC tax purposes
How it works
If you have two homes, or two properties, you may have to pay for both of them, unless:
- an exemption applies
- somebody else has their sole or main residence in one of the properties
- it is in use as a holiday let
A second home is a property that is furnished but not used as someone’s sole or main residence.
We do not offer a discount for an unoccupied furnished property. If you have a furnished second home that is nobody's main residence you have to pay the full Council Tax charge.
If you live in a particular property because of your job, different rules may apply. If your main residence is somewhere else, the job related home may qualify for a 50% discount. If it is your main residence, your other home may qualify for the discount.
How to apply for a discount on your Council Tax
Second homes premium
On 22 February 2024, we decided to charge a 100% Council Tax premium (total council tax payable 200%) for furnished second homes and unoccupied furnished properties.
There has to be 12 months from the Council deciding in favour of the premium to implementing the charge, therefore the premium won't be charged until 1 April 2025.
Why we’re charging you a premium
Any property that is classed as a ‘second home’, which is a furnished property that is no one’s sole or main residence will be automatically charged a 100% premium from 1 April 2025.
How we will use the income from the premium
We're reviewing our records to make sure that they are up to date. You may have received a letter from us, asking you to let us know about any changes to the status
How to tell us about any changes to the status of your property
Exceptions from a Second homes premium charge
A number of mandatory exceptions from the second homes premium will be introduced from 1 April 2025.
There are separate application forms for the former Barrow, Eden and South Lakeland areas. Please select the form for the area you live in.
We are also introducing a number of discretionary local exceptions. You can find full details of the mandatory exceptions and discretionary local exceptions in our Council Tax Premium Exceptions Policy 2025 to 2026 (PDF , 231KB)
Application form for a discretionary exception to the council tax second homes premium (DOC , 75KB)
If your property is being used as a holiday let
The rules regarding whether you will pay business rates changed on 1 April 2023 and now depend on how many nights your property is available to let each year and how many nights it was actually let.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will work out the ratable value of your property based on its type, size, location, quality and how much income you’re likely to make from letting it.
It will be rated as a self-catering property and valued for business rates if over the last 12 months both the following were true:
- it was available to let for short periods commercially for at least 140 nights in total
- it was actually let for at least 70 nights
The property can only be assessed for Business Rates once all of the above criteria are met.
If your property has met the criteria, you can ask the Valuation Office Agency to consider whether your property should be reassessed for Business Rates.
Apply for business rates for self-catering properties (applies to England) - GOV.UK
The decision as to whether your holiday let should be listed for Business Rates or Council Tax is not made by Westmorland and Furness Council. It is made by the Valuation Office Agency.
Please note that until the property satisfies all of the criteria, and the Valuation Office has determined that the property should now pay Business Rates you will have to continue paying Council Tax as a Second Home.
If your property is removed from the Council Tax list you will need to arrange for a trade waste collection service for the waste and recycling.
If you let our your property as self catering accommodation for part of the year and your own holidays for the other
If your property is available for let for more than 140 nights a year, and you actually let it out for more than 70 nights a year to people other than your family and friends, you should contact the Valuation Office Agency so they can check whether your property should still pay Council Tax or Business Rates.
Guidance on business rates for self-catering and holiday let accommodation (GOV.UK)
If you need to put your second home up for sale
You do not have to pay the premium for a year after you first put your property on the market, provided it is genuinely for sale at a reasonable price. The premium starts from 1 April 2025, so if you put your property on the market before this date you will only be exempt from paying the premium for the balance of the 12 months from April. For example, if you put your property on the market on 1 September 2024 you will have to start paying the premium from 1 September 2025.
If your property is still empty but no longer furnished
The property will no longer be classed as a second home for Council tax purposes and you may be eligible for an empty home or annex council tax discount.
Properties owned by businesses
Properties owned by businesses are still considered second homes.
The premium will be charged for any property which is furnished, and no one’s sole or main residence. The Council Tax payer does not need to be a private individual, and businesses owning properties that meet these criteria will still be charged the premium.
How we will use the income from the premium
The second homes premium is estimated to provide £10.655m revenue per annum from 2025/26.
The additional council tax income received from the second homes premium will be utilised to support our core services and deliver £5m of investment. This will be investment in priorities and support to those communities most affected and also to help tackle the affordable housing crisis.
Our Medium Term Financial Plan sets out how the Council’s available budget will be allocated for 2025-2030 and includes the investment to be made from the second homes premium. This was approved, as part of the annual budget setting process by full Council on 27 February 2025. The minutes of this meeting will be published in due course.
The investment over the next 5 years will be as follows:
| Investment | 2025/26 £m | 2026/27 £m | 2027/28 £m | 2029/30 £m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affordable homes - planning | 0.150 | 0.150 | 0.150 | 0.150 |
| Affordable homes - delivery | 0.850 | 0.850 | 0.850 | 0.850 |
| Playgrounds | 0.350 | 0.350 | 0.350 | 0.350 |
| Lines and signs | 0.100 | 0.100 | 0.100 | 0.100 |
| Parking infrastructure | 0.100 | 0.100 | 0.100 | 0.100 |
| 20mph | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.250 |
| Locality boards | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 |
| Tourist area support | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 |
| Environmental expenditure/grants | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 |
| Culture funding | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.200 |
| Community power | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
| Bus support | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 |
| Rights of way | 0.100 | 0.100 | 0.100 | 0.100 |
| Travel bursary | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 |
| Total second homes investment | £5 million | £5 million | £5 million | £5 million |
If you own two (or more) properties and wish to claim your family members live separately to you in them
This is not normally allowed. For Council Tax purposes you must state which property you consider your main home. We will not usually accept a claim that partners and families have their main homes in different places, and we will carry out further checks to verify any such applications.
We take any attempt to evade paying the premium seriously and we will check claims that a property is now occupied as a main home. We will ask you to provide further details, and we can request information about where you are registered with your GP and dentist and where any children attend school. We can also require copies of utility bills and make enquiries with credit reference agencies and other councils to validate claims.
Advice about second homes for HMRC tax purposes
The definition of a second home for HMRC tax purposes is not the same as a second home for Council Tax purposes. HMRC’s rules are very different, and you should take proper financial advice if you need further information on any tax implications.