A premium is an additional amount of council tax to be paid on top of the standard council tax bill.
The money raised from council tax premiums is used to :
- bring long-term empty homes back into use to provide safe, secure and affordable homes, and
- support councils in increasing the supply of affordable housing and improve local communities
Long-term unoccupied properties are already charged a council tax premium. Second homes and furnished properties that are no-one's residence will also be subject to a council tax premium.
Unoccupied and furnished properties
You will be charged a premium of 100% if you have a second home, or a furnished property that is no-one's residence. This means that you will have to pay a 200% council tax charge.
Some properties are excluded from this premium charge and will only be charged the standard amount of council tax. These are:
- a property that is for sale or to let (for up to 12 months only) ,
- an annexe that is part of your main property,
- a property that would be your main residence if you were not living in armed forces accommodation,
- a pitch with a caravan or mooring with a boat,
- a seasonal home that you cannot live in all year round, or
- job related properties.
There are also some types of second homes and furnished properties that are no-one's residence that qualify for a council tax discount.
Unoccupied and unfurnished properties
If a property has been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for more than 12 months there is a premium charge of 100% in addition to the standard council tax.
Properties that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for 2 years will be charged a premium of 200%. Properties that have been empty for more than 3 years will be charged a premium of 300%.
The charges for long term unoccupied properties will be:
- 200% on properties that have been unoccupied for more than 1 year (100% standard council tax charge and 100% premium charge)
- 300% on properties that have been unoccupied for more than 2 years (100% standard council tax charge and 200% premium charge)
- 400% on properties that have been unoccupied for more than 3 years (100% standard council tax charge and 300% premium charge)
Some properties are excluded from this premium charge, such as:
- a property that is for sale or to let (for up to 12 months only),
- an annexe that is part of your main property, or
- a property that would be your main residence if you were not living in armed forces accommodation.
If your property is excluded from the premium charge, you will only pay the standard amount of council tax. When the exclusion ends, you will be charged a premium.
How to apply for an exception
Please use this form to claim an exception from the council tax premium charge.
If your property has been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for less than 6 months you may be able to claim a full exemption from the charge.
How the premium charge income is being used
As of 1 April 2025, there were 843 properties that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for more than 12 months. 711 of these properties were charged a premium.
There were also 3273 furnished properties that were no-ones residence and 1764 of these properties were charged a premium.
For the year 2024 to 25 a total of £1,433,063.73 was collected from long-term unoccupied premium charges and £2,365,848.14 was collected from premium charges on furnished properties that were no-ones residence.
The premiums we have collected are being used to tackle the problems caused by long-term unoccupied properties.
Housing Solutions team
With the funding from council tax premiums, we have been able to place more officers in local Hubs. These officers provide practical help and advice to prevent people from needing our homelessness service.
Since we have expanded the team, we have given support and advice to over 823 customers.
Landlord Enquiry and Tenants Service Team (LETS)
If you have a long term, empty property in which you are currently paying a Council Tax Premium, our LETS service can help you find a tenant for your property.
LETS are working with private landlords across Cardiff to:
- get their properties ready for letting, including Empty Home Grants
- match tenants with suitable housing, and
- sign their properties up to Rent Smart Wales.
This will increase the number of affordable houses we have across Cardiff and can provide housing to those that need it most.Since April 2025, we have:
- supported 186 people in private rented accommodation, and
- signed up 38 properties to the Welsh Government Leasing Scheme (21 of these homes were originally unoccupied).
You can find out more about LETS on the Cardiff Housing website.
Housing enforcement
The council tax premiums we have collected have allowed us to work with owners of unoccupied properties to bring them back into use.
So far, we have been able to bring:
- 84 properties back into use between 2021 to 2022,
- 95 properties back into use between 2022 and 2023,
- 118 properties back into use between 2023 and 2024, and
- 161 properties back into use between 2024 and 2025.
