PENALISING owners of homes that have been empty for more than two years has cut the number of long-term vacant homes in Derby, the city council has said.
But one homeowner says the house in which his son lives has incurred the 150% council tax rate by mistake.
Roy Allen, 64, of Cowers Lane, near Belper, said the council had been levying the extra charge on the home in Field Lane, Alvaston, despite his son having lived there with his girlfriend throughout this financial year.
He said: "At the moment he is living at the back of the home and in the loft room. From the street you wouldn't see activity in the house. We are willing to go to court over this."
From April 1, last year, the council introduced the empty home premium tax" for homes vacant for two years after councils were given extra powers over council tax charges.
It says the main reasons were to generate extra revenue and "encourage owners to bring empty properties back into use".
Now the authority has revealed figures showing that it has had some success.
The number of properties incurring the rate was 468 for this financial year. But in 2014-15, that will drop to 327 – a 30% decrease.
Over the two years, the extra charges on homeowners will be worth £117,000 – £57,000 in 2013-14 and £60,000 in 2014-15.
A council spokeswoman said: "The fact that the number of properties is lower for 2014-15 than for 2013-14 would suggest that the approach is working, and more properties are being brought back into use.
"The higher charges in 2014-15 may be due to factors such as the property bands of the homes in question, and the slight increase in council tax."
Mr Allen said his property had been empty for a time, prior to his son living there, while it was refurbished.
He said that when wife Lynne called the council in February to say the property would now be lived in, she was told that just that phone call would do for notification.
But the authority has then charged the 150% for the entirety of 2013-14 and has now told the family it expects the same for 2014-15.
At one stage, in summer last year, the council had asked to enter the property to check if anyone was living there.
But Mr Allen said no because he didn't believe the authority had the right to do this. He said: "They were giving us conditions of what they expected to find."
In January, the authority wrote to say they would consider other evidence, like photographs and energy bills, as potential proof the home was occupied.
The council said it received information from the Allens on March 6 – after details of 2014-15 council tax charges had been sent out.
A statement from the authority said the information was "being reviewed by a case officer".
It said: "If, after reviewing all the necessary evidence, we are satisfied that the property is not empty, we will of course revise the council tax charge for the property for 2014-15 and refund any overpayment for 2013-14."
Mr Allen said: "They've got the evidence and their disbelief of it is based on nothing – an alleged visit, we've not had a knock on the door and nobody's called."
