To object to paying two lots of council tax

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We pay really high rates on our own property. We have a rental property - a small flat- which we have been unable to rent. We have just been faced with a £650 council tax bill. If we had students in it the flat would be exempt, if we had one person in it we would get 25% discount but instead we have to pay the full amount when it is empty. I just can't see the fairness of this - but willing to listen if someone can explain the justice of it.

This bears repeating again from another poster.

"This has to be the bigest first world problem i have ever read on here!!!!

YABsoU!!! I assume you have the property for profit? Well then get it rented and sort it out.

I would have had a bit more sympathy if you had posted asking for a way around the problem, but your post is pretty much the most entitled post ive read.

Oh and if you can't afford the rates on your property - sell it and move into the flat! sorted."

you're charging too much rent, hence nobody wants it and now YOU have to pay £650 as a consequence of your greed.

Its rather more complicated than that Justanotherlurker. There are now all sorts of economic schools of though on macro-economics, as opposed to simple neo-liberalism/Keysianism or control-centric policies. Personally I'm in favour of the Harvard School.

What we have in the UK is not technically a free market as there is rather a lot of state regulation, partly self-regulatory, partly prohibitively enforced (e.g. proportionately very high criminal penalties). Its also characterised by the State acting as a private undertaking in some areas.

I haven't got an HMO so I'm not sure why you are asking me that question. However, interest rates aren't the only cost factored into rent - the cost of increasing regulation and yes, council tax to full voids would have an impact too. Unless a landlord is a philanthropist. The point that may have made you think I have an HMO is that I said the cost of compliance is becoming very high (I have clients in some cities where it can easily cost them 2 or 3 thousand a year on license fees and what has become annual changes to physical requirements in the property which seem only to be provided by one or two companies which may or may not have connections to the local authority), and that gets passed onto the tenants. Because in practical terms, in a business, that's what happens.

I have noticed a lot of BTL properties in auctions lately, must be going out of favor,getting expensive.

This site has 20+ properties which look like BTL repro's'

www.eddisons.com/property-auctions/online-catalogue/leeds/residential/?page=2

It should be double council tax on second homes. Some people don't even have one home!