City's second homes to face 200% council tax rate

Plans to make a city "a fairer place to live" by charging second homes extra council tax have been given the green light.

Oxford City Council wants to see second homes subject to a council tax premium charge of 100%.

An estimated 668 homes within the city council's boundary will now have to pay double their standard rate.

The measure is due to come into effect from April, after the authority's audit and governance committee approved it at a meeting this week.

Speaking after the meeting, the council's deputy leader Ed Turner said: "We really want to make Oxford a fairer place to live.

"If people have a second home in Oxford, it's only right that they make an appropriate contribution for local services.

"We need this money, and I think we will be charging from the first moment that we legally can."

The city council previously approved a Second Homes Premium Charge in February 2023 which was due to be implemented in April 2024.

However, in late December 2023 council officers were told by the government they needed to give those affected 12 months' notice after the legislation had received royal assent, which it did in October 2023.

This meant the council had to delay introducing the charge until April this year.

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