Homeowners hit with £27,000 council tax bills under new 500 per cent premium

Temie Laleye
Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:46:42 +0000

Second home owners are being hit with eye-watering council tax bills, with some now facing charges of up to £28,000 a year.

The steep rises come as councils ramp up premiums in a major crackdown on additional properties.

Property owners in Scotland are now facing some of the highest council tax charges in Britain after SNP-controlled Midlothian Council introduced a 500 per cent premium from April 1.

The new levy means some homeowners could be handed annual bills approaching £28,000.

Those with Band G properties face the biggest hit, with charges reaching as much as £27,863.10 when the full premium applies.

For a typical Band D second home, bills could rise to £14,810.88 under the maximum rate.

Scottish councils now have unlimited powers to set second home premiums, going further than rules in the rest of Britain.

The charges are applied on a sliding scale, depending on how long the property has been owned.

Council tax charges increase depending on how long the second home has been owned.

Those who have had the property for less than two years will pay double the standard rate, while owners in the two to three year bracket face a 300 per cent surcharge.

The highest charges apply to longer-term owners. Anyone who has held a second property for more than three years will be hit with the full 500 per cent premium.

Council data shows there are 35 second homes in Midlothian, spread across different tax bands. Of these, 11 are in Band D, while just two fall into the higher Band G category.

Empty properties are treated in the same way, with charges rising depending on how long they have been left vacant.

The policy is expected to raise around £200,000 for the council in the 202627 financial year.

Council leader Kelly Parry stated in February that while the measure would bring in some revenue, the authority's preference was for it to drive behavioural change.

"Particularly given our lack of supply in rented houses, which is not only a challenge for obtaining properties but of course pushes up prices," she said.

The council has argued that imposing substantial charges would discourage second home ownership and make more properties available to local residents.

Scotland's taxation powers on second homes significantly outstrip those available to councils south of the border. English local authorities are capped at doubling standard council tax rates, while Welsh councils can apply a maximum 300 per cent surcharge.

Several other Scottish councils have also raised their premiums following the introduction of uncapped powers, though none have matched Midlothian's scale.

The Scottish Conservative housing spokesperson Meghan Gallacher condemned the increases as "eye-watering hikes" resulting from SNP and Green politicians granting councils unlimited powers.

"This reckless proposal will pile costs on to homeowners at a time when many are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis," she said, accusing ministers of choosing punitive charges over meaningful action on Scotland's housing emergency.

Nathan Emerson of Propertymark noted that second homes in Scotland already attract an eight per cent additional dwelling supplement at purchase, adding there was limited evidence that higher taxes were boosting affordable housing supply.

Joanna Marchong from the Adam Smith Institute warned councils risked "driving away the very investment and spending that local economies rely on" by pushing charges to extremes to plug financial gaps.