THERE are currently 138 homes in Bradford being charged three times the normal amount of Council Tax due to being empty for so long.

But the Council admits that collecting this tax can be "stubbornly difficult."

In an effort to reduce the amount of empty homes in the District, Bradford Council proposed a change to how it charges Council Tax on such properties in 2018.

The changes meant that from April 2019, homes empty for longer than two years were charged a 100 per cent premium on their Council Tax - doubling the cost.

The following year a 200 per cent premium was added on homes empty for more than five years.

More than 1,200 properties worth £179m empty for years in Bradford

And last April a 300 per cent premium was added to homes that have been empty for over a decade.

At a meeting of the Council's Corporate Scrutiny Committee earlier this month, members were given an update on Council Tax collection in the District.

They were told that the premiums on empty properties were introduce to encourage property owners to actually make use of the homes rather than let them stand empty. Once bought back into use, Council Tax returns to the normal rates.

Members heard that the current financial year was the first in which the 300 per cent premium had been introduced.

Council owned properties to go under hammer in bid to fill empty homes

The report said: "As of December a total of 1,326 Empty properties are subject to a premium charge – 943 with a 100 per cent premium charge, 245 with a 200 per cent premium charge, and 138 with a 300 per cent premium charge.

"While there has been an improvement in the collection rate in 2021/22 (59.18 per cent at the end of December compared to 54.6 per cent the previous year) collection from empties is stubbornly difficult, and remains an area of focus for improvement.

"Legal processes to recover charges from empty properties are often lengthier and the council tax charges are higher, and so may take a longer period of time to pay."

As of the end of December around £484,000 of the £735,864 liability (65.79 per cent) on the 300 per cent premium homes had been collected.