Official Statistics

Local authority Council Taxbase in England: 2022 (revised)

Updated 25 May 2023

Applies to England

• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

The release provides details on the number of dwellings liable for council tax and the number of dwellings that receive council tax discounts, premiums, and exemptions in England.

1. In this release:

• In England there were a total of 25.2 million dwellings as of 12 September 2022, an increase of 238,000 (or 1.0%) compared with 13 September 2021. Of this number, 24.5 million dwellings were liable for council tax. This was an increase of 205,000 (or 0.8%) compared with September 2021.

• There were 15.8 million dwellings (62.7% of all dwellings) liable to pay 100% council tax as they are not entitled to any exemptions, discounts, or charged a premium.

• There were 8.6 million dwellings that were subject to a discount and 72,000 dwellings charged a premium on their council tax. Of those subject to a discount, 8.3 million dwellings were receiving a discount because they were occupied by single adults.

• There were 692,000 dwellings exempt from paying council tax, an increase of 32,000 (or 4.9%) compared with 2021. Exempt dwellings account for 2.7% of all dwellings.

• Excluding exempt properties, there were 479,000 dwellings recorded as empty for the purposes of council tax as of 12 September 2022. This includes those dwellings being charged a premium.

• There were 257,000 dwellings recorded as second homes for the purposes of council tax.

Release date: 25 May 2023 (originally published 9 November 2022)

Date of next release: November 2023

Contact: 0303 444 2141 [email protected] (Responsible Statistician: Jo Coleman)

Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 [email protected]

2. Introduction

This release provides information relating to the stock of domestic dwellings in local authority areas in England based on council tax records. The total number of dwellings is based on the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) Valuation List snapshot as of 12 September 2022 (the snapshot is taken on the 2nd Monday of September each year). Further information relating to council tax discounts, exemptions and premiums is then derived from this snapshot on 3 October 2022 (the 1st Monday of October). The data are then provided on the Council Tax Base (CTB) form submitted by all 309 billing authorities in England. Since it’s original publication in November 2022, data has been revised for three local authorities. These changes have also resulted in a very small change to the England totals. These revisions affect the empty homes and taxbase data and are flagged within each table where they apply.

The release provides summary totals at an England level of the number of dwellings, the number of dwellings that are exempt from council tax, and the number liable for council tax. For dwellings liable for council tax, it also gives summary figures for the number receiving different types of council tax discounts and those being charged a premium. Information at a local authority level is published in the associated tables.

The information contained in this release can be used to calculate a tax base for a local authority. A “tax base” is the number of Band D equivalent dwellings in a local authority area. To calculate the tax base for an area, the number of dwellings in each council tax band is adjusted to take account of any discounts, premiums or exemptions. The resulting figure for each band is then multiplied by its proportion relative to Band D (from 6/9 for Band A to 18/9 for Band H) and the total across all 8 bands is calculated. The tax base is used to determine the level of council tax an authority charges each dwelling. This is shown in the local authority level data table available online.

In 2022, authorities reported the following reasons for change in their figures compared with last year:

• Increase in dwellings developments

• Increased engagement with billpayers arising from the implementation of the Energy Rebate scheme which has resulted in the re-categorisation of properties (empty dwellings/second homes)

• Reviews of empty properties

• Delays with probate

• Increased awareness of discounts for households with a resident living with a severe mental impairment, as well as other local authority schemes

3. Chargeable dwellings, exemptions and discounts

Table 1 provides figures for the total number of dwellings in England in September each year from 2018 to 2022, those that are liable for council tax i.e. chargeable dwellings, those that are exempt from council tax, those that receive discount on their council tax and those that are required to pay a premium on their council tax.

• There were 25.2 million dwellings as at 12 September 2022, an increase of 238,000 (or 1.0%) compared with 13 September 2021. Of this number, 24.5 million dwellings were liable for council tax. This was an increase of 205,000 (or 0.8%) compared with September 2021.

• There were 15.8 million dwellings liable to pay 100% council tax as they are not subject to any exemptions, discounts or premiums. This represents 62.7% of all dwellings.

• There were 8.6 million dwellings that were subject to a discount and 72,000 dwellings charged a premium on their council tax. Of those subject to a discount, 8.3 million dwellings were receiving a discount because they were occupied by single adults.

• There were 692,000 dwellings exempt from paying council tax, an increase of 32,000 (or 4.9%) compared with 2021. Exempt dwellings account for 2.7% of all dwellings.

Table 1: Number of Chargeable Dwellings 2018 to 2022 [note a]

					Thousands
	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Total number of dwellings on valuation lists	24,298	24,549	24,762	24,987	25,225
less: Number of dwellings exempt from council tax	599	626	651	660	692
less: Number of demolished dwellings	1	1	1	1	2
Number of dwellings on valuation list liable for council tax	23,698	23,922	24,109	24,326	24,531
of this: number of dwellings subject to a discount	8,091	8,191	8,322	8,492	8,646
of which are second homes [note b]	15	13	10	10	9
of which are empty homes subject to a discount [note c]	72	64	53	52	48
of which are single persons	7,738	7,837	7,982	8,151	8,307
of which are all residents disregarded for council tax purposes	35	36	36	38	38
of which are all but one resident disregarded for council tax purposes	217	232	242	241	244
of this: number of dwellings charged a premium [note d]	62	63	69	72	72
of this: number of dwellings not subject to a discount or a premium [r]	15,545	15,668	15,718	15,762	15,812
of which are empty homes [note c] [note d] [r]	338	356	357	345	358
of which are second homes [note b]	237	240	253	243	247
of which are classed as other [r]	14,970	15,072	15,108	15,174	15,206

Footnotes for Table 1

[r] Data has been revised for three local authorities. These changes have also resulted in a very small change to the England totals. These revisions affect the empty homes and taxbase data and are flagged within each table where they apply.

[note a] Data taken as at the second Monday in September.

[note b] At local authority discretion, second homes can be subject to a discount of between 0% and 100%. If an authority sets a discount of 0% then this is classified in the table as ‘not subject to discount’. All other rates are classified as ‘subject to discount’.

[note c] Empty homes are those dwellings which are unoccupied and substantially unfurnished and, at local authority discretion, can be subject to a discount of between 0% and 100%. If an authority sets a discount of 0% then it is classified in the table as ‘not subject to discount’. All other rates are classified as subject to a discount’.

[note d] Empty homes are those dwellings which are unoccupied and substantially unfurnished and, if they have been empty for more than 2 years, may be charged a premium. Not all authorities set a premium - in 2022, 303 out of 309 authorities applied a premium.

Chart 1 below shows how the total stock of dwellings on the valuation list is split between the various categories of liability for council tax at the snapshot.

Chart 1: Split of dwelling stock by category of dwelling as at 12 September 2022

Number of dwellings on valuation list as at 12 September 2022 = 25.2 million

[note a] ‘Empty or second homes’ includes empty or second homes subject to a discount and empty homes charged a premium.

[note b] ‘Liable for 100% council tax’ includes empty or second homes receiving no discount.

[note c] ‘Exempt from council tax or demolished’ includes empty properties that have an exemption.

See Accompanying Tables and Open Data to download the chart data.

4. Chargeable dwellings, exemptions, and discounts by council tax band

Table 2 provides figures of the number of dwellings in England by council tax valuation band as at 12 September 2022. It shows those that are liable for council tax i.e. chargeable dwellings, those that are exempt from council tax, those that receive a discount on their council tax and those that are required to pay a premium on their council tax.

If the occupiers of a dwelling are granted disabled relief for council tax purposes, this reduces the council tax band of the dwelling by one band i.e. if the dwelling would normally be a Band D dwelling, after disabled relief the council tax band would be Band C. However, if the dwelling is in Band A, normally the lowest council tax band available, after disabled relief the band is said to be in council tax Band A-.

• 65.4% of all dwellings are in Bands A to C and only 9.3% are in the top three bands F to H.

• 57.3% of dwellings subject to a discount or premium are in Bands A and B.

• Of the 8.3 million dwellings entitled to a single person discount as at 12 September 2022, 34.4% were in Band A dwellings.

Table 2: Dwellings, exemptions and discounts by valuation band as at 12 September 2022

										Thousands
	Band A-[note b]	Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H	TOTAL
Number of dwellings on valuation lists	-	6,039	4,925	5,523	3,937	2,457	1,304	890	150	25,225
less: number of dwellings exempt from council tax	-	258	139	127	83	45	21	14	4	692
less: number of demolished dwellings [note a]	-	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Number of dwellings on valuation list liable for council tax	-	5,780	4,785	5,395	3,854	2,412	1,283	876	146	24,531
Number of dwellings moved down one band as a result of disabled relief [note b]	15	20	27	24	19	11	9	5	0	129
Number of dwellings liable to council tax adjusted for disabled relief [note c]	15	5,785	4,792	5,392	3,849	2,403	1,281	872	142	24,531
of this: number of dwellings subject to a discount	5	2,938	1,973	1,795	1,021	521	237	139	18	8,646
of which are second homes [note d]	-	5	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	9
of which are empty homes subject to a discount [note e]	-	18	11	9	5	3	2	1	0	48
of which are single persons	4	2,857	1,905	1,720	970	491	220	125	15	8,307
of which are all residents disregarded for council tax purposes	0	6	4	5	5	4	5	7	2	38
of which all but one resident disregarded for council tax purposes	1	53	51	59	40	22	11	6	1	244
of this: number of dwellings charged a premium [note f]	-	33	13	10	7	4	2	2	1	72
of this: number of dwellings not subject to a discount or a premium	10	2,813	2,806	3,587	2,821	1,879	1,042	731	123	15,812
of which are empty homes [r]	-	130	74	67	42	23	12	9	2	358
of which are second homes	-	57	42	47	39	26	16	15	5	247
of which are classed as other [r]	10	2,626	2,690	3,473	2,741	1,829	1,014	707	115	15,206

Footnotes for Table 2

[r] Data has been revised for three local authorities. These changes have also resulted in a very small change to the England totals. These revisions affect the empty homes and taxbase data and are flagged within each table where they apply.

[note a] Figures in Band B to H are below 500 and are therefore presented as 0.

[note b] Dwellings subject to disabled relief are charged council tax at the rate of one band lower than that on the valuation list. Council tax for a Band A- dwelling is charged at 5/9 of the council tax of a Band D dwelling.

[note c] Calculated by subtracting the number of dwellings moved down from this band as a result of disabled relief from the number of dwellings on the valuation list liable to council tax and adding the number of dwellings moved into this band as a result of disabled relief.

[note d] At local authority discretion, second homes can be subject to a discount of between 0% and 50%. If an authority sets a discount of 0% then this is classified in the table as ‘not subject to a discount’. All other rates are classified as ‘subject to a discount’.

[note e] Empty homes are those dwellings which are unoccupied and substantially unfurnished and, at local authority discretion, can be subject to a discount of between 0% and 100%. If an authority sets a discount of 0% then this is classified in the table as ‘not subject to a discount’. All other rates are classified as ‘subject to a discount’

[note f] Empty homes are those dwellings which are unoccupied and substantially unfurnished and, if they have been empty for more than two years, may be charged a premium. Not all authorities charge a premium – in 2022, 303 out of 309 authorities applied a premium.

Chart 2: Split of dwelling stock by council tax band as at 12 September 2022

Number of dwellings on valuation list as at 12 September 2022 = 25.2 million

See Accompanying Tables and Open Data to download the chart data.

5. Empty and second homes

5.1 Empty homes for the purposes of council tax

Empty homes are dwellings which are unoccupied and substantially unfurnished. At local authority discretion, empty homes can be subject to a discount of between 0% and 100%. If they have been empty for more than 2 years, they may be charged a premium, which is in addition to the full amount of council tax due. Whether a premium is charged is also at local authority discretion.

There are also some exempt classes which can be applied to properties that are unoccupied. This data can be found in Table 5 and are not included in this section. The aggregation of the empty properties receiving a discount, empty properties charged a premium and these unoccupied dwellings receiving an exemption are published in the separate Dwelling Stock estimates statistical release and in Live Table 615 following this publication.

From 1 April 2013 to the 31 March 2019, the premium was up to 50%. From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, the premium increased to up to 100%. From 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, the premium could be up to 100% for dwellings that had been empty for between 2 to 5 years and up to 200% for dwellings that had been empty for more than 5 years. Since 1 April 2021, the premium could be up to 100% for dwellings that had been empty for between 2 to 5 years, up to 200% for dwellings that had been empty for between 5 to 10 years, and up to 300% for dwellings that have been empty for 10 years or more. There are therefore some discontinuities in Table 3b below.

In 2022, 303 out of 309 authorities reported they were charging the premium on some of their empty dwellings. This was the third year where authorities have been asked to report the premium based on the length of time the dwelling had been empty. Some caution should be taken when interpreting the split of data as some authorities may only be able to report in one category (particularly where there is no variation in premium), and we do not record whether this is the case. For example, in 2022, 303 authorities reported premiums charged for dwellings that have been empty for 2 to 5 years, 288 authorities reported premiums charged for dwellings empty for 5 to 10 years, and 279 authorities reported premiums charged for dwellings empty for 10 years and over.

Table 3a and Table 3b provide figures for the total number of dwellings in England classed as empty for council tax purposes since 2018 with details of the levels of discounts and premiums applied. This excludes empty properties that have an exemption.

• The total number of empty dwellings as at 12 September 2022 was 479,000 – an increase of 11,000 or 2.3% on the previous year.

• Of these, only 48,000 empty dwellings were subject to a discount, with 24,000 dwellings receiving a 100% discount.

• 72,000 empty dwellings were charged a premium. Of these, 70.5% of dwellings being charged a premium have been empty for 2-5 years, 19.3% of dwellings have been empty for between 5-10 years and 10.2% of dwellings have been empty for more than 10 years.

Table 3a: Number of dwellings classed as empty by level of discount and premium awarded, 2018 - 2022

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Total number of dwellings classed as empty [r]	472,918	482,905	479,336	468,070	478,928
Number of dwellings classed as empty not subject to a discount or premium [r]	338,293	355,810	357,351	344,649	358,422
Number of dwellings classed as empty subject to a discount	72,206	64,156	52,784	51,791	48,165
of which 10% discount	2,298	1,437	830	845	476
of which 20% discount	563	502	384	417	390
of which 25% discount	16,990	15,772	13,018	13,407	12,454
of which 30% discount	16	0	0	0	0
of which 40% discount	997	943	663	724	798
of which 50% discount	12,823	11,923	9,049	9,790	8,909
of which 75% discount	815	690	779	847	783
of which 100% discount	37,704	32,889	28,061	25,761	24,355
Number of dwellings classed as empty charged a premium [note b][note c]	62,419	62,939	69,201	71,630	72,341
of which 10% premium	473	0	0	8	38
of which 25% premium	228	0	0	0	0
of which 50% premium	61,718	15,001	6,658	6,354	5,420
of which 100% premium	…	47,938	44,369	47,243	48,097
of which 150% premium	…	…	277	123	19
of which 200% premium	…	…	17,897	12,001	12,652
of which 300% premium	…	…	…	5,901	6,115

Footnotes for Table 3a

[r] Data has been revised for three local authorities. These changes have also resulted in a very small change to the England totals. These revisions affect the empty homes and taxbase data and are flagged within each table where they apply.

[note a] Since 1 April 2013, local authorities in England have been able to apply council tax discounts of between 0% and 100% for empty dwellings or charge a premium on top of the normal council tax.

[note b] Not all authorities charge a premium. In 2020, 300 authorities applied a premium. In 2021, 300 authorities applied a premium. In 2022, 303 authorities applied a premium.

[note c] Between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2019, authorities were able to charge a premium of up to 50% for dwellings that had been empty for more than 2 years. From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, the premium increased to up to 100%. From 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, local authorities have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% for dwellings that have been empty for between 2 and 5 years and up to 200% for dwellings that have been empty for over 5 years.

Since 1 April 2021, local authorities have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% for dwellings that have been empty for between 2 and 5 years and up to 200% for dwellings that have been empty for 5-10 years, and up to 300% for dwellings that have been empty for 10 years or more.

Table 3b: Number of dwellings classed as empty by premium awarded, 2020 - 2022 [note a]

	2020 [note d]	2021	2022
Number of dwellings classed as empty charged a premium [note b][note c]	69,201	71,630	72,341
Number of dwellings classed as empty (2-5 years) charged a premium	49,037	50,449	50,986
of which 10% premium	…	8	38
of which 50% premium	6,327	5,048	4,323
of which 100% premium	42,710	45,393	46,625
Number of dwellings class as empty (5 years and over) charged a premium	20,164	…	…
of which 50% premium	331	…	…
of which 100% premium	1,659	…	…
of which 150% premium	277	…	…
of which 200% premium	17,897	…	…
Number of dwellings class as empty (5-10 years) charged a premium	…	13,730	13,987
of which 50% premium	…	976	862
of which 100% premium	…	1,073	958
of which 150% premium	…	95	19
of which 200% premium	…	11,586	12,148
Number of dwellings class as empty (over-10 years) subject to a premium	…	7,451	7,368
of which 50% premium	…	330	235
of which 100% premium	…	777	514
of which 150% premium	…	28	0
of which 200% premium	…	415	504
of which 300% premium	…	5,901	6,115

Footnotes for Table 3b

[note a] Caution should be taken when comparing the number of dwellings class as empty by premium awarded due to changes in the number of authorities who charged this premium each year and changes to the premium categories. In 2020, 300 authorities applied a premium. In 2021, 300 authorities applied a premium. In 2022, 303 authorities applied a premium.

[note b] Not all authorities charge a premium. In 2020, 300 authorities applied a premium. In 2021, 300 authorities applied a premium. In 2022, 303 authorities applied a premium.

[note c] Between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2019, authorities were able to charge a premium of up to 50% for dwellings that had been empty for more than 2 years. From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, the premium increased to up to 100%. From 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, local authorities have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% for dwellings that have been empty for between 2 and 5 years and up to 200% for dwellings that have been empty for over 5 years.

Since 1 April 2021, local authorities have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% for dwellings that have been empty for between 2 and 5 years and up to 200% for dwellings that have been empty for 5-10 years, and up to 300% for dwellings that have been empty for 10 years or more.

[note d] In 2020, some authorities have not reported figures split between the 2-5 years and 5 years over category. In these cases, we have used the figures as reported.

5.2 Second homes for the purposes of council tax

Since 1 April 2013, local authorities in England have had the choice to apply council tax discounts of between 0% and 50% for second homes. These are properties that may be empty for part of the year and are furnished.

Table 4 provides figures for the total number of dwellings in England classed as second homes for the purposes of council tax since 2017 with details of the levels of discount applied.

• There were 257,000 dwellings recorded as second home for the purposes of council tax as at 12 September 2022. This is an increase of 4,000 (or 1.4%) on 2021.

• Of these, 247,000 were not subject to a discount – an increase of 4,000 (or 1.7%) on 2021.

• Of the 9,000 second homes subject to a discount, 22.5% received a 5% discount, 47.2% received a 10% discount and 27.9% received a 50% discount.

Table 4: Number of dwellings classed as second homes for the purposes of council tax by level of discount 2018 - 2022 [note a]

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Total number of dwellings classed as second homes	251,654	252,630	262,953	253,400	256,913
Number of second homes not subject to a discount	236,936	239,835	252,550	243,176	247,443
Number of second homes subject to a discount	14,718	12,795	10,403	10,224	9,470
of which 5% discount	2,934	2,364	1,971	2,210	2,127
of which 10% discount	8,091	5,752	5,221	5,088	4,474
of which 20% discount	281	0	0	0	0
of which 25% discount	-	319	258	238	0
of which 30% discount	79	76	0	0	0
of which 35% discount	-	251	234	233	231
of which 50% discount	3,333	4,033	2,719	2,455	2,638

Footnotes for Table 4

[note a] Second homes can be subject to a discount of between 0% and 50% at local authority discretion.

6. Exemptions from council tax

There are currently 21 types (class) of exemption from council tax. These include dwellings left empty by deceased persons and dwellings which are occupied only by students, foreign spouses of students, or school and college leavers. Line 2 in both Table 1 & Table 2 showed the total number of dwellings that are exempt from council tax.

Table 5 provides details of these exemptions from council tax split by class of exemption, for 2012 to 2022, along with details of each class of exemption as a percentage of the total number of exemptions for 2022. The table also contains definitions of the council tax exemption classes.

• There were 692,000 dwellings exempt from paying council tax, an increase of 32,000 (or 4.9%) compared with 2021. Exempt dwellings account for 2.7% of all dwellings.

• Three-quarters of all exemptions can be attributed to four exempt classes. The largest is exempt class N (dwellings occupied solely by students, foreign spouses of students, or school and college leavers) at 33%, with class F (an unoccupied property where the liable council taxpayer has died) at 18%, class U (properties where all occupants are severely mentally impaired) at 15% and class M (student halls of residence) at 11%.

• Of these four classes, exempt class F saw the largest percentage increase compared to 2021, with an increase of 11,000 (or 10.2%) to 122,000 dwellings.

See Table 5.

7. Accompanying Tables and Open Data

7.1 Symbols used

… = not available
0 = zero or negligible
- = not relevant
|| = a discontinuity in data between years
[R] = Revised since the previous update of this data

7.2 Rounding

Where figures have been rounded, there may be a slight discrepancy between the total and the sum of constituent parts.

7.3 Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release. These include Tables 1 to 5 and data for individual local authorities.

These tables can be accessed here.

8. Technical Notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website.