Official Statistics
Council Taxbase 2011 in England
Estimate of the number of properties liable for Council Tax.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
Details of the local authority Council Taxbase 2011 England were announced on 16 November 2011.
The latest statistics release includes data from 2006 to 2011 updating the statistics ‘Council Taxbase 2010 England (revised)’ previously issued on 31 March 2011.
Number of dwellings
The main points are:
- in England there were 22.2 million dwellings on the Valuation Office valuation list liable for Council Tax as at 12 September 2011, an increase of 1% compared with 2010 and up 3% compared with 2007
- the number of dwellings on the valuation list that are exempt from Council Tax increased by 1% compared with 2010
- 34% of all exemptions from Council Tax are class C (short-term vacant dwellings)
- a further 28% of all exemptions are class M or N (student-related exemptions); of these, class M exemptions have increased by more than 50% in the period 2007 to 2011
- the number of class L exemptions (unoccupied dwellings repossessed by a mortgage lender) again fell between September 2010 and September 2011 to 11,100, the third consecutive annual fall; there are now 4,800 (or 30%) less class L exemptions than the peak in 2008
- the number of class Q exemptions (unoccupied dwellings where the person who would otherwise be liable is a trustee in bankruptcy) increased to 2,200 in September 2011, compared with 400 in September 2007
- 7.7 million dwellings were entitled to a discount as a result of being occupied by single adults; this represents 33% of all dwellings
- 2.7 million band A dwellings (50% of all dwellings liable to band A Council Tax) were entitled to a single adult’s discount
- the total number of dwellings on the Valuation Office valuation list in England as at 12 September 2011 was 23.0 million, an increase of 137,000 (or 1%) compared with 2010; of this increase, 49,300 (or 36%) of the total are in London and the South East
Empty properties
The main points are:
- between 2010 and 2011 the number of long-term empty dwellings subject to a discount fell by 30,000 (or 19%); in the same period the number of long-term empty dwellings not subject to a discount increased by 9,000 (or 6 %)
- the number of long-term empty dwellings that were subject to a discount has fallen by 62,000 (or 33%) between 2007 and 2011; in the same period the number of long-term empty dwellings that do not receive a discount has increased by 27,000 (or 21%), giving a net reduction of 35,000 (or 11%) in the total number of empty dwellings
- since the introduction of the New Homes Bonus in the summer of 2010 a number of authorities have taken the opportunity to review the empty properties and second homes in their area; a number have also altered the level of discount awarded with many abolishing the discount for empty properties altogether.
Number of dwellings by region and valuation band
The main points are:
- nationally, two-thirds of properties are in bands A to C and only 9% are in the top 3 bands
- the pattern varies widely across regions: in the North East 56% of all properties are in band A; in London the figure is just 4%; London and the South East accounts for 70% of all band H properties in England
Updates to this page
Published 16 November 2011Last updated 29 January 2013 + show all updates
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Due to minor revisions 'Council Taxbase local authority-level data 2011' spreadsheet has been replaced.
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First published.