Council Tax Premium in Dorset: Second Homes and Empty Properties
Written by Scott Jones, founder of PropertyKiln · Last updated
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Dorset now hits you with double council tax on second homes from April 2025, and up to 400% total on long-term empties by duration.
Second homes - premium, definition, timing
- Rate: From 1 April 2025 Dorset charges a 100% premium on second homes, so you pay 200% of the normal council tax.
- Before that, second homes were just charged at 100% with no discount and no premium.
- The 2024 decision gave the required one year's notice and the 2026-27 bill-explanation page confirms the 100% premium is in place and added automatically.
Definition:
Dorset says a second home is "substantially furnished but nobody uses the property as their only or main home". The bill-explanation page repeats it: "a second home is defined as a furnished property that is not anyone's sole or main residence".
In practice, if the place is furnished and no-one actually lives there as their main home, Dorset will treat it as a second home and charge double.
Holiday lets: if you get the property onto business rates as self-catering accommodation, it stops being in council tax, so the second-home premium does not apply; if it stays in council tax as a furnished "periodically occupied" dwelling, it does.
Long-term empty premium - bands and dates
Dorset uses the full stepped structure now.
From the empty-properties and "why we act on empty homes" pages:
| Duration empty and unfurnished | Premium | Total council tax |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 month | Up to 1 month 100% discount when first unoccupied and substantially unfurnished. Per property, not per owner, does not reset on sale. | Varies |
| 1-12 months | No premium | 100% (standard) |
| 1-5 years (12-60 months, from 1 April 2024) | +100% premium | 200% total |
| 5-10 years | +200% premium | 300% total (Band D example: about GBP 6,000 vs just over GBP 2,000 standard) |
| 10+ years | +300% premium | 400% total (Band D example: about GBP 8,000) |
The council is explicit that these percentages are designed to "encourage property owners not to leave properties empty".
Exceptions and exemptions
Long-term empty premium
Key exceptions from Dorset's empty-property discount page:
Major repair / structural alteration: Properties undergoing major repair or structural alteration "may be excepted from the long-term empty premium charge for up to 12 months". Dorset is unusual: it still allows a 50% "major works" discount during that 12-month period, and this discount runs concurrently with the exception to the premium. In effect: up to 12 months at 50% charge, then the premium kicks in after that if still empty; you do not get an extra grace period.
The usual Class E/F/etc exemptions (probate, certain student properties, etc.) continue to apply to the underlying council tax; if a property is fully exempt you do not pay the premium.
Second-home premium
Dorset's second-home page and the 2026-27 bill explanation say:
A 100% premium applies "unless they qualify for one of the exceptions shown" on the second-homes page.
Those exceptions follow the national list under sections 11B and 11D LGFA 1992:
- Some armed forces cases where the home is only a second home because you must live in forces accommodation.
- Certain job-related dwellings.
- Some annex situations where the annexe forms part of the main dwelling.
Dorset says where it has identified properties that qualify, it has updated them automatically; owners who think they should be excepted are told to contact the council tax team.
Appeals process
Dorset follows the standard England route.
- If you think your property has been wrongly treated as a second home or long-term empty, or that an exception should apply, write to the council tax team and ask for a decision to be reconsidered.
- Provide evidence: tenancy agreements, bills, marketing details, probate docs, builders' schedules, or employment / forces paperwork depending on the angle.
- If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for England.
Challenge it in writing with evidence; if they will not budge, you can take it to the Valuation Tribunal.
Contact details
Dorset Council's bills and website direct council tax queries through the main customer services system and online forms, not a single visible phone number on the second-home page.
Contact Dorset Council's council tax team via the online forms on the Dorset Council website or through the main customer services number shown on your bill.
Numbers and revenue
Number of second homes
Dorset does not give a neat "X second homes" figure on the second-home or empty-home pages themselves. However, a BBC report on the premium says the 100% second-home levy could raise around GBP 8 million a year, which implies many thousands of chargeable second homes across the Dorset Council area.
Revenue from premiums
- BBC: "Double council tax on second homes could raise GBP 8 million", with Dorset Council saying the final figure will depend on behaviour changes once the premium hits.
- A 2025 owner-facing article aimed at holiday-let owners repeats that second-home council tax is being doubled and frames it as a significant extra cost for owners.
Dorset expects to raise around GBP 8 million a year from the new double-council-tax charge on second homes, on top of the income from long-term empty premiums.
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