Council Tax Premium in Gwynedd: Second Homes and Empty Properties

Gwynedd is the Welsh poster child for hard premiums: as at April 2026 you are on 250% total council tax on second homes and 250% total on long-term empties (12+ months), using the Welsh up-to-300% powers.

Second homes - current premium, Welsh powers, definitions

Rate and timeline

Wales lets councils charge up to a 300% premium on second homes and long-term empties (so up to 400% total council tax).

Gwynedd's journey under those powers:

So in April 2026:

• Second-home premium in Gwynedd is 150%.
• Second-home owners pay 250% of the normal council tax bill (standard 100% + 150% premium).

Definition of a "second home" vs sole/main residence

Cyngor Gwynedd uses the standard Welsh definition:

• A second home (Class B) is a "dwelling which is not anyone's sole or main residence and is substantially furnished".
• Sole / main residence follows the usual UK test: where the person normally lives, works from, keeps possessions, GP registration, etc., and you only have one at a time.

If your property in Gwynedd is furnished and not genuinely someone's main home, you are treated as a second home and billed at 250% council tax unless an exception applies or you are on business rates as a qualifying holiday let.

Welsh-specific context and numbers

Welsh Government stats on Gwynedd second homes for 13 April 2023-24 show:

• 4,403 chargeable second homes in Gwynedd in that period.
• Of these, 83% (3,640) were actually being charged the premium (others fell into exception categories).

Earlier BBC coverage of the 300% powers highlighted that Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire had the largest numbers of second homes subject to a premium, at 3,794 and 3,746 respectively back when the cap was 100%.

Long-term empty properties - current premium and changes

Rate and duration

Gwynedd also uses premiums on long-term empty homes under the same Welsh powers.

The Full Council report of 4 December 2025 recommends and records that for 2026-27 Gwynedd will allow no discount on homes empty 6+ months and raise a premium of 150% on homes that have been empty for 12 months or more (long-term empty), under section 12A LGFA 1992.

BBC and Cambrian News coverage both summarise the December 2025 decision as: premiums on long-term empty homes "jump from 100% to 150%" from April, in line with second homes.

Note: Gwynedd has not (yet) gone to the full 300% empty-home premium that the law allows, but it now charges the same 150% premium on empties as on second homes.

Exceptions and Welsh-specific carve-outs

Both premiums sit on top of the Welsh national regime, which is stricter than England in both how high you can go and the exception rules.

Second-home premium exceptions

Gwynedd follows the Welsh exception rules and then adds local detail:

The 2021 consultation explains that under sections 12A and 12B LGFA 1992 the council can charge a premium but must apply national exceptions, including where:

• A property is subject to a planning condition that prevents it being used as anyone's sole or main residence or says it may only be used as holiday accommodation.
• The property is being marketed for sale or let (time-limited).
• The property is an annexe to a main dwelling.
• The property is only a second home because the owner has to live in armed forces accommodation.

From April 2023, Welsh law was changed so that if a property has a holiday-only planning condition and does not meet the new holiday-let business-rates criteria, it will be charged standard council tax but no premium.

Gwynedd explicitly says that properties with a planning condition "holiday use only" and failing the business-rates tests are not subject to premium, which matters for a lot of coastal stock.

Empty-home premium exceptions

Similar Welsh statutory classes apply on long-term empties (sale, let, annex, armed forces), and Gwynedd's policies and consultation materials adopt them.

The effect is the same: in those tightly defined cases you still pay standard 100% council tax, but the extra 150% premium is switched off while the exception applies.

Gwynedd can go all the way up to a 300% premium, but it currently sits at 150% and only waives that in narrow, nationally defined circumstances: mainly forced sale/let, annexes and armed-forces situations, plus some holiday-planning-condition stock.

Appeals and challenge process

Standard pattern, but through Welsh routes.

1. If you believe your Gwynedd property is wrongly classed as a second home or long-term empty, or you qualify for an exception, contact Cyngor Gwynedd's council tax team and ask for a review.
2. Provide evidence: for occupation (tenancy agreement, bills, GP registration, electoral roll), for sale/let exception (agent contract, listing details, realistic asking price), for planning condition (copy of decision notice), for armed forces (MoD documentation).
3. If you still disagree after a written decision, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for Wales.

Challenge it in writing with evidence. If they still say no, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for Wales.

Contacts - council tax and premiums in Gwynedd

All premium detail is under "Council Tax Premium - Second homes and furnished properties that are not a main residence" and "Empty and unfurnished properties, and premium" on the Cyngor Gwynedd site.

Gwynedd routes contact via its normal council tax channels (phone, email, online forms) listed on its council tax pages and bills; the premium pages themselves do not advertise a separate phone line.

Contact Cyngor Gwynedd's council tax team via the contact details on your bill or the council's website if you think your property is mis-classified or you qualify for a premium exception.

Numbers and revenue

Number of second homes

• 4,403 chargeable second homes for council tax in Gwynedd at 13 April 2023.
• 3,640 of these (83%) were actually being charged the 150% premium, with the rest in exception categories.
• Earlier BBC numbers (pre-150% hike) had 3,794 second homes paying the lower-rate premium, so the trend is upwards.

Revenue raised from premiums

The Council Tax Premium financial table shows total value of council tax demands for premium on second homes rising over successive years:

• From GBP 8.88m (at 50% premium) to GBP 11.74m (at 100%) to GBP 15.72m (at 150%).
• When the second-home premium was increased to 150%, an annual budget of GBP 3m was allocated specifically to homelessness work, funded by this income.
• The November 2025 evidence report confirms that "since April 2018 the Council has charged a council tax premium on the majority of second homes and long-term empty properties" and uses that income to support various housing and homelessness interventions.

Gwynedd is now collecting well over GBP 15 million a year in premium council tax demands on second homes alone, and has earmarked around GBP 3 million a year from that to tackle homelessness and housing pressures.

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