What the premium is
- Applies to
- Homes in England worth £2m or more at April 2026 values.
- The test
- Substantially unfurnished and unoccupied for 12 months or more.
- The charge
- A 100% premium, which doubles the surcharge.
- Status
- Confirmed at the Budget. Being legislated in the Finance Bill 2026-27, with the detail in regulations.
It came out of the consultation. The government asked whether owners who are not UK resident should pay extra, decided that would be hard to enforce, and chose a premium on empty homes instead. The target is much the same: £2m homes bought and left empty, many of them in central London.
What it costs
| 2026 value | Occupied | Empty, with the premium | Extra a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| £2m to £2.5m | £2,500 | £5,000 | £2,500 |
| £2.5m to £3.5m | £3,500 | £7,000 | £3,500 |
| £3.5m to £5m | £5,000 | £10,000 | £5,000 |
| £5m and above | £7,500 | £15,000 | £7,500 |
First-year charges. The surcharge rises with CPI inflation from 2029/30. The start date of the premium has not yet been published.
The premium also doubles every step between bands. For an empty home, crossing £2m costs £5,000 a year rather than £2,500, and crossing £5m adds £5,000 rather than £2,500. A band that is one step too high costs twice as much to live with.
Who is likely to be caught
- flats and houses bought as investments and left empty
- homes standing empty while an estate is settled
- homes stripped out for a long renovation
- homes left empty after the owner moved out, while a slow sale goes through
- homes owned from abroad and not lived in
On the published wording, a furnished second home that is used from time to time is not unoccupied and unfurnished, and nor is a let home with a tenant living in it. Those pay the normal surcharge. The detailed definitions are still to come.
What is not known yet
- When the premium starts.
- What substantially unfurnished means in practice.
- Whether a short stay restarts the 12 months. For the council tax premium, occupation of six weeks or less does not.
- Whether a new owner starts a fresh 12 months. For the council tax premium, a change of owner does not reset the clock.
- The exceptions. The council tax premium has exceptions for homes being marketed for sale or to let, for 12 months after probate and for major repairs. Whether the surcharge follows suit is not yet known.
These will be set out in the Finance Bill and the regulations that follow. We will update this page and the news page as they are published.
What owners can do
Get the band right
With the premium, a wrong band costs double. Checking the 2026 value matters more for an empty home than for any other. See how a valuation review works.
Keep the evidence
If a home is lived in or furnished, keep the proof: tenancy agreements, utility and council tax bills, photographs and dates. If the council decides a home is empty when it is not, that evidence is what a challenge rests on.
Bring the home back into use
Letting or selling the home ends the problem at source. So does having someone live there. We work with live-in caretaker services, including UK military veterans, who can live in and look after an empty home. A home someone genuinely lives in is not unoccupied, and a caretaker helps with security and insurance too: many home insurers restrict cover once a home has been empty for 30 to 60 days.
Challenge a wrong decision
The government's response says owners can challenge their liability with the council, which has two months to respond, and appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for England if they disagree. See challenges and appeals.
Not a way round the rules
We will not help anyone stage a home to avoid the premium. Token furniture or someone who does not really live there is not occupation, and councils already warn that deliberately manipulating the council tax premium can lead to prosecution. What we do is make sure the premium is charged only where the law says it should be, and help owners bring empty homes back into genuine use.
Executors and probate
Settling an estate that includes a £2m home can easily take more than a year, and the home often stands empty while it does. Executors, and the solicitors acting for them, should record the home's condition, contents and dates from the start, and keep an eye on the exceptions when they are published. We work with private client and probate solicitors. See for advisers.
Empty homes questions
Does the mansion tax double on empty homes?
Yes, for homes in scope that are substantially unfurnished and unoccupied for 12 months or more. The government confirmed a 100% premium at the Budget on 28 October 2026, so the yearly surcharge doubles: from £2,500 to £5,000 in the lowest band and from £7,500 to £15,000 in the top band.
Does the empty homes premium apply to second homes?
On the published wording, not to a furnished second home that is used. The premium is aimed at homes that are both unfurnished and unoccupied. Second homes pay the normal surcharge for their band.
When does the empty homes premium start?
The government has not yet published a start date. The surcharge itself starts in April 2028, and the premium is being legislated in the Finance Bill 2026-27, with the detail to follow in regulations.
Is this the same as the council tax empty homes premium?
No. Many councils already charge a long-term empty homes premium on ordinary council tax. The mansion tax premium is a separate charge on top of the surcharge, so an empty £2m home could end up paying both.
Last checked against the government's Budget documents and consultation response on 30 October 2026. The surcharge is being legislated in the Finance Bill 2026-27 and is not yet law. Some detail is still to come in regulations.