Extra second home council tax to be refunded...

Warwick District Council has been charging double council tax on second homes that are "substantially furnished but have no resident"



A council is refunding the extra council tax it has charged for second homes, having failed to implement a new policy properly.

Warwick District Council has been charging double council tax on second homes that are "substantially furnished but have no resident" since April 2025.

However, questions raised by a member of the public alerted the authority to potential flaws around how the decision to do so was taken, and it was concluded it had "acted outside the law".

The initial decision to charge a premium was taken by full council in February 2023 but the level of extra charge was not specified at that point.

The cabinet — the panel of Green and Labour councillors in charge of major service areas — agreed to move forward with the double rate in February 2025.

But having obtained legal advice, the council has concluded "there is no clear evidence that cabinet considered" factors laid out by the government in November 2024 when it was in the middle of pulling together its policy.

These factors state councils should look at the volume of long-term empty homes in their area, circumstances that may preclude certain homes being used as main residences, and the potential impacts on the local economy and local services before utilising the new powers.

It was also pointed out the double rate had not been voted on by full council.

All of that led the council's monitoring officer Graham Leach — its most senior legal official — to the view "the council did not meet all its obligations".

At a meeting of councillors on Wednesday chair Councillor Naveen Tangri said the council had "acted outside the law" and that "immediate action needs to be taken to remedy this situation".

A series of votes were held, which saw the council stop the policy for now but immediately restart the process from scratch.

A consultation on the issue will be considered by the cabinet in February 2026, with a policy due to kick back in from 1 April 2027.

The report estimates restarting the process will cost Warwick District Council £45,000 per year and warned that the extra workload created could require additional staffing.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.