Denbighshire is set to roll out a 50 per cent council tax premium on holiday homes.

As part of plans to reduce the number of empty properties in the county and tackle the housing crisis councillors agreed last year to charge extra council tax on holiday homes and long-term empty properties.

This means that as of April this year landlords of long-term empty properties would have to pay 50% extra on top of their council tax.

The second home charge is due to come in next April.

Officers at the authority have recommended that councillors vote to implement the holiday home charge when they meet on Tuesday.

Implementing the extra tax has cost the council £22,000, but it’s expected to bring in an extra £756,000 in funding to the authority.

Bringing in the increase on holiday homes is also expected to stop people avoiding the tax by changing the status of their property from a long-term empty property to a second home.

The report said: “In January 2018, an exercise was undertaken to write to all customers who were potentially liable for the premium. This gave customers the opportunity to contact the council tax team to discuss their circumstances and allowed time for customers to budget for the increase. Where applicable, the council tax team referred cases to the empty homes officer for advice. The property inspector was also utilised where necessary to determine the correct status for a property.”

Chief finance officer, Richard Weigh, felt that the increase on long term empty properties had been a success.

He said: “The administration of the policy has been successfully implemented. “The potential impact on funding is modest and has been assumed in the tax base estimates for next financial year. The objectives of the policy are consistent with those of the corporate plan and should help to contribute to bring more homes back into use.”