Council Tax Premium in Westmorland and Furness (Eden): Second Homes and Empty Properties

Westmorland and Furness runs one set of rules across Eden, South Lakeland and Furness, so the Eden story is the same: double council tax on second homes from 1 April 2025, and 200-400% total on long-term empties depending how long they have been vacant.

Second homes in Eden - rate, definition, revenue

• Decision: on 22 February 2024 the council agreed a 100% Council Tax premium on second homes (furnished, not anyone's main home).
• Start date: the premium applies from 1 April 2025.
• Rate: a 100% premium, so you pay 200% of the normal council tax on each second home in Eden.

Definition used:

A second home is a "furnished property that is no one's sole or main residence", including unoccupied furnished properties.

Money:

The council's second-homes page says the premium is estimated to provide GBP 10.655m a year from 2025/26 across the whole Westmorland and Furness area, with extra income earmarked for core services and GBP 5m of additional investment, including tackling the affordable housing crisis. That number applies authority-wide, but it is the same 100% premium hitting Eden's lakes villages and market towns as in South Lakeland.

Long-term empty homes in Eden - premium bands

The long-term empty rules are also authority-wide.

From "Homes that are empty for over a year":

Applies where the property is empty and substantially unfurnished for over one year.

The Empty Homes Strategy confirms the same structure and gives the scale:

• Around 2,358 long-term empty homes across Westmorland and Furness, with over 900 in the Furness area; Eden has a significant share of the rest.
• The strategy explicitly links the stepped premiums to reducing that long-term empty stock.

In Eden terms: leave a place empty and unfurnished for a year and you are on double council tax; 5+ years and you are into triple; 10+ years and you are paying four times the standard bill.

Exceptions and grace periods

Standard grace for genuine sales

On second homes:

• You do not have to pay the second-home premium for 12 months after you first put the property on the market, provided it is genuinely for sale at a reasonable price.
• If you listed it before 1 April 2025, you only get the balance of that 12-month window from April.

Exceptions policy (second homes and empties)

The council has a single "Policy for determining exceptions to council tax premiums" covering Eden and the rest of the area.

It follows the national framework for empty-home and second-home premiums but sets out local, discretionary exceptions.

Premiums can be switched off (usually for 12 months at a time) where it would be unreasonable to charge them, for example where:

• The property is genuinely unsuitable for use as a main residence (serious access or structural issues).
• Local conditions make it genuinely difficult to sell or let, despite reasonable marketing.

Applications are via a discretionary exception form; the explanatory notes and the form both restate that the second-home premium is "a 100% increase (making the total charge 200%) on properties which are furnished but which are not in use as anyone's sole or main residence".

Statutory national exceptions (probate, armed-forces, some annexe and job-related cases) also apply behind the scenes.

Appeals and challenge route

Process is the same in Eden as South Lakeland:

1. Contact the Council Tax team and/or use the exceptions route if you think your Eden property has been wrongly classed as a second home / long-term empty, or you qualify for a statutory or discretionary exception.
2. They expect evidence: marketing details, tenancy agreements, utility bills, probate paperwork, employment / forces documents, or structural reports depending on the angle.
3. If you still disagree after a written decision, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for England.

Challenge it in writing with evidence; if they will not change it, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

Contacts and Eden-specific pointers

Council tax and premium information is centralised on the Westmorland and Furness Council Tax pages; Eden-area contact details are the same as for the rest of the unitary.

The "Advice about empty properties" page spells out that "in some cases, charges may rise to up to 400% of the standard charge" and links straight to the long-term empty premiums page and the Empty Homes Strategy.

From April 2025, any Eden second home that is furnished and not your main residence is on double council tax, and any Eden long-term empty that sits unfurnished for a year or more climbs to double, triple or even four times the normal bill depending how long you leave it. There is a 12-month grace period if you are genuinely trying to sell, and a narrow exception policy, but you should assume the premium will apply unless you can prove otherwise.

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