George Osborne seems to have given a resounding NO to London pleas for the right to hike Empty Homes Premium, as reported by the Camden New Journal who nobbled Osborne on the subject during his visit to Kilburn last week. There has been a long-running London story that was initiated by Camden Council seeking permission to double council tax on long-term empties. Boris Johnson subsequently jumped on the band wagon by suggesting on his radio phone-in programme that about 1000% council tax on some longer-term vacants, though the context shows that this was about foregin investors and buy-to-leave homes not run-of-the-mill empties.
Osborne is reported to have said that measures to tackle empty homes already went far enough and showed a general lack of interest in the issue: "It’s not about penalising people. It should be about building new homes, and having incentives for people to do that."
Reporting on these stories sometimes comes across as slightly odd in that it tends to imply that there is special dispensation that Osborne or the government could give to allow Councils to charge 100% Empty Homes Premium rather than requiring a change to the legislation across the board. As far as we know the government does not have the power to change the rate of Empty Homes Premium for an individual council though this remains to be established beyond doubt.
There is an obvious precedent for the request. In Scotland, where they seem to be capable of doing things intelligently, the whole regime around council tax discounts and exemptions is much more sophisticated - and does include the option for councils to charge 100% Empty Homes Premium after a year rather than two years. (See our Library Item here). This never seems to have been picked up by the Evening Standard or other London papers, nor by London politicians: certainly it is never mentioned.