Own an empty home around Bromley?

It’s about to start costing you.

Bromley council’s executive is set to vote on the introduction of an Empty Homes Premium, which would see homeowners around the borough charged an additional council tax if their homes are left unoccupied.

Under the proposal, the authority would charge an additional 50 per cent for

properties empty for longer than two years, increasing to 100 per cent where the property has been empty for 5 years .

The new charge would be introduced from April 2020.

According to the council, an empty home is one that has been “unoccupied” and “substantially unfurnished” for two years or more.

Earlier this year the authority undertook public consultation on the proposal.

Of the 191 responses, 58 per cent were in favour of the Empty Homes Premium being introduced.

Of those who would be directly impacted by introduction of the premium, only six per cent were in favour.

The council predicts the move would lead to a net additional income of £87,000 being generated, depending on the number of actual empty properties, as well as helping prompt owners to bring the homes back into use.

The council predicts the move would cost the authority about £59,000 a year, based on one full-time equivalent member of staff covering the tasks of billing, recovery, visiting and customer services.

Research conducted by Admiral insurance earlier this year found there was more than 22,000 empty homes in London in 2018.

It showed that for every 1,000 homes in Bromley, 3.7 had been vacated “long-term”.

In comparison, the City of London has the highest rate of homes in England that have been empty for at least six months – with 37.8 from every 1,000 homes.