Second home tax raises over £1.6m in its first year

A COUNCIL tax premium on second homes and empty properties in Carmarthenshire has raised just over £1.6m in its first year.

- RICHARD YOULE

The 50% premium was implemented on April 1, 2024, and affected 1,167 second homes and 2,102 long-term empty houses. The figures exclude a much smaller number of properties in each category which were exempt.

The council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it collected £651,985 in premiums from second home owners in 2024-25 and £967,276 from empty home owners. It added that unpaid amounts - or arrears - totalled £204,282 for second homes and £308,238 for long-term empty ones.

Carmarthenshire wasn’t the first authority in Wales to charge the premiums - councils have been able to bring them in since 2017 - and several in England have also introduced them.