Council Tax - exemptions, discounts and increases (unoccupied properties)

If your property is empty or used as a second home, you may be able to reduce your Council Tax bill. The amount you pay depends on whether the property is furnished, how long it has been empty and how it is used.

Empty and unfurnished properties

If no one lives in the property and it has no furniture, you can apply for a 100% Council Tax exemption for up to 6 months. The property must have been lived in for at least 3 months before it became empty.

We treat a property as unfurnished if it only contains:

• carpets, curtains or blinds
• cookers or gas or electric fires
• fitted wardrobes or cupboards
• a fridge, freezer, washing machine or dishwasher

If the property is still empty after 6 months, you may be able to get a 50% discount for up to another 6 months. This does not reduce water or wastewater charges.

Empty but furnished properties

If the property is empty but still furnished, you may get a 10% discount for up to 12 months.

Long-term empty properties

If a property has been empty for more than 12 months and no discount applies, we charge an Empty Property Surcharge. This means a 200% Council Tax charge.

If you are actively marketing the property for sale or rent, you may pay a reduced charge of 90% for up to another 12 months. After 24 months, no discounts apply.

How we count time a property is empty

We count how long a property has been empty from the first day it became vacant. This includes time before 1 April 2019 and time before you owned or rented the property.

If the property has been lived in for less than three months, we still treat it as empty for Council Tax purposes. This can affect how long any discount lasts and how much you can get.

Proving where you live

If you live or lived in South Lanarkshire, we will check our records where possible.

If you live or lived outside South Lanarkshire, or with friends or relatives, you need to provide proof. This could be a Council Tax bill in your name or a letter or email from the people you lived with.

Please have this ready to upload when you apply. We may also ask for more evidence and will contact you if we do. Make sure you include your contact details.

Second homes

A second home, defined by Council Tax legislation, is furnished, is not anyone’s main home and is lived in for at least 25 days a year.

From 1 April 2024, the Scottish Government introduced regulations that allowed councils to increase the Council Tax charge on second homes to 100% surcharge, meaning a 200% Council Tax charge. Water and wastewater charges are not affected.

Before 1 April 2024, second homes were entitled to a 10% discount on the Council Tax charge. This discount did not apply to the water and wastewater charges.

Submitting evidence

You may be asked to upload evidence as part of your application. Help with this can be found on our Uploading files to online forms page.