Manchester’s Labour-controlled council wants to double the level of council tax for empty properties - an idea for which a formal consultation period has just closed.

Manchester City Council has proposed increasing council tax by 4.99% next financial year, taking an average Band D property up to £1,966 per year, with the new levy for empty homes in addition to this. This means landlords would be paying a bill of £328 extra a month during voids.

The National Residential Landlords Association has formally objected to this in its response to the consultation, pointing out that in most locations an empty property typically attracts extra council tax for void periods but only if these exceed two years. The NRLA says the double charge will penalise landlords during the current challenging economic climate and could also see tenants hit with higher rents to cover landlords’ increased costs during voids.

The association says it’s not in landlords’ interests to have void periods, yet they inevitably occur between tenancies for short periods at least. The NRLA says this is likely to be the case if landlords use void periods to improve their property and, for example, add additional insulation to improve their EPC ratings.

The NRLA stated : ‘By penalising PRS landlords for making improvements, the city council risks them carrying out only absolutely essential works, encouraging them to ditch plans for other improvements if they know they will face a financial penalty for doing so.”