Camden Council has announced it wants to charge owners of long-term empty properties an extra 100% on their council tax.

It said the move is to tackle the problem of empty and unoccupied homes in the borough.

In a statement on the authority's website, it added that bringing empty homes back into use is a "key priority" for Camden and supports the council's aim to invest in communities to make neighbourhoods sustainable.

It said that second and empty homes "make it difficult for local people to get onto the housing ladder and do not encourage community development."

Currently, the Government already allows local councils to charge an additional 50% council tax on homes that have lain empty for more than two years, but now, Camden Council also wants to charge extra tax on those properties that have been empty for more than a year.

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It has now called on the Department for Communities and Local Government to consider reducing the minimum period a house has stood empty, from two years to one year, and have a premium of up to 100% on the council tax charge.

It also said an extra 50% council tax charge introduced last year on homes that have been empty for more than two years has helped reduce the number of long-term empty homes in Camden from 248 to 162.

In a letter to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, Councillor Theo Blackwell, the Cabinet Member for Finance, said that if an agreement was reached on the proposals, a further 190 homes in the area could be brought back to use, out of the 390 homes that have been empty between one and two years.

He added: "Housing costs and availability are consistently one of the biggest concerns for our residents and we believe we have reached a crisis point in private rental sector housing in the borough."

(JP/IT)