Council Tax Premium in Westmorland and Furness (South Lakeland): Second Homes and Empty Properties
Written by Scott Jones, founder of PropertyKiln · Last updated
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Westmorland and Furness (South Lakeland) is at the sharp end: double council tax on second homes from April 2025, and up to 400% total on long-term empties by duration, confirmed into 2026-27.
Second homes - premium, definitions, revenue
Current premium on second homes (South Lakeland area)
Westmorland and Furness is a unitary council, so the rules are the same across South Lakeland, Eden and Barrow. For the South Lakeland area you can treat these as local.
- Decision: on 22 February 2024 the council approved a 100% council tax premium for second homes.
- Start date: premium applies from 1 April 2025.
- Rate: +100% premium, so you pay 200% of the normal council tax on each second home.
The council's second-homes page confirms this continues as policy from 2025-26 onwards.
How they define a "second home" vs sole/main residence
The council's own wording:
- A second home is "a furnished property that is no one's sole or main residence".
- On the wider discounts page: "furnished second homes are subject to a 100% charge [premium]," with a separate note for job-related accommodation.
Sole or main residence follows the standard council tax test: the place where a person normally lives, keeps their belongings, is registered with GP, votes, etc., and you can only have one main residence at a time.
If your property in South Lakeland is furnished and not genuinely lived in as someone's main home, the council will treat it as a second home and charge double council tax from April 2025.
Revenue raised from the second-home premium
The council is upfront about the numbers:
- The second-homes page states the premium is "estimated to provide GBP 10.655 million revenue per annum from 2025/26".
- A local news piece also quotes the scheme as expected to raise "GBP 10.6 million in additional revenue" once in force.
- The same page says the extra income will support core services and GBP 5 million of additional investment.
The new double-council-tax charge on second homes is expected to bring in around GBP 10.6 million a year across Westmorland and Furness.
Long-term empty property premiums
Current empty-home premium bands
There is a bit of timing nuance. The council agreed stepped premiums in early 2024 and then updated them again for April 2026, but for April 2026 onwards the position is:
| Duration empty and unfurnished | Premium | Total council tax |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 6 months | May get 100% discount (short-term empty relief) | Varies |
| 6-12 months | No premium | 100% (standard) |
| 1-5 years (12-60 months) | +100% premium | 200% total |
| 5-10 years (60-120 months) | +200% premium | 300% total |
| 10+ years (120+ months) | +300% premium | 400% total |
A January 2025 council news release about the empty-homes strategy confirms the same stepped structure: 100% premium after 1-5 years, rising to 200% and then 300% for 5-10 and 10+ years respectively.
A February 2026 public notice restates that from 1 April 2026 the long-term empty premium will be 100%, 200% and 300% at the same 1/5/10-year thresholds.
Important practical points
- The premium is attached to the property, not the owner. If you buy a house that has already sat empty beyond one of the thresholds, you inherit the premium from day one.
- You must tell the council when you move in, sell or let so that they can stop or adjust the premium.
Exceptions and exemptions
Westmorland and Furness has a dedicated policy for exceptions to premiums, which applies across second homes and long-term empties.
Empty-home premium exceptions (headline cases)
The exception policy sets out that the premium does not apply where the property meets one of several defined exception categories, for example:
- Probate / letters of administration: recently inherited properties within a set period after grant of probate.
- Genuinely for sale at a reasonable price: you do not pay the premium for 12 months from first marketing if it is genuinely on the market; if it was on the market before 1 April 2025 you get whatever remains of that 12-month window after April.
- Genuinely for let: similar temporary exception if it is actively and reasonably marketed to let (within set criteria).
- Structural repair / uninhabitable: cases where the building genuinely cannot be occupied and is undergoing substantial works, subject to evidence and time limits.
The policy document explicitly references the national framework in sections 11B and 11D LGFA 1992 and says decisions are at the council's discretion based on evidence.
Second-home premium exceptions
The same exception policy covers second homes, again closely tracking the national list:
- Armed forces: where the property is only a second home because the taxpayer is required to live in MoD or forces accommodation.
- Job-related accommodation: where you live in a property because of your job and maintain another property elsewhere, one of them can be protected from the premium (up to a 50% discount in some job-related cases).
- Certain annexes and tied properties may also be treated differently depending on occupation and liability.
The council's second-homes page also notes an important for-sale exception that many South Lakeland owners will use: no second-home premium for up to 12 months after you first put the property on the market, provided the price is reasonable for the local market.
The council only waives the premium in tightly defined cases such as probate, genuine sale, job-related accommodation and armed forces postings.
Appeal process
Westmorland and Furness uses the standard council tax challenge route.
- Contact the Council Tax team in writing and ask for a review of how your property has been classified or whether a premium / exception has been applied correctly.
- Provide evidence (tenancy agreement, sales listing, probate documents, employment contract, utility bills, etc.) to back your case.
- If you still disagree once they issue a decision, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for England.
Dispute it in writing with evidence. If they refuse to change it, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
Council contacts (South Lakeland area)
- Council tax general enquiries (all areas): 0300 373 3300.
- South Lakeland area council tax email: counciltax3@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.
- South Lakeland area postal address: South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4DQ.
- Phone lines / offices: 9am-5pm Monday-Thursday, 9am-4.30pm Friday, closed bank holidays.
Numbers of second homes and empties (South Lakeland context)
The council has not published a separate "X second homes in South Lakeland" figure on the second-home premium page or the exceptions policy, but the GBP 10.655m per year forecast gives a sense of the scale.
The empty-homes strategy news release confirms that there are enough long-term empties across Westmorland and Furness for stepped premiums to be a significant part of a wider plan to bring homes back into use, but again without a public headline dwelling count.
The council expects the new premiums on second homes and long-term empty properties to raise over GBP 10 million a year and sees them as a key tool in tackling housing pressures across South Lakeland and the wider area.
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