Information about Council Tax on second homes

A second home is a property you own or rent that is not your main residence, such as a holiday home.

For council tax purposes, second homes are defined as substantially furnished properties with no permanent resident, even if someone stays there occasionally.

From 1 April 2025, owners of second homes in Birmingham will pay a 100% Council Tax premium. This means you’ll pay double the standard council tax.

The premium does not apply if:

• the property is someone’s main home
• the property is rented out
• you qualify for an exemption or discount — for example, if the second home is needed for your job

Second home premium charge

Generally, you will not be able to get a discount just for owning a second home and may be charged a premium of 100% in addition to the standard council tax charge. This will be shown on your council tax bill as ‘Second Home Premium’.

There are nine exceptions to the premium charge, introduced from 1 April 2025.

For more information about premium charges and their exceptions, or to tell us your property meets the qualifying conditions, visit our premium charges pages.

Discount for job related second homes

If you have a second home which is part of your job, for example if it is in your employment contract to use it, you can get a 50% discount on your Council Tax.

This also applies to properties left vacant due to being provided a property elsewhere for work purposes. However, this is restricted to members of the armed forces and ministers of religion

How to qualify

To be eligible for a discount, you must have a second home.

We may need to check which of your properties is used as your main home. If this is the case, we will contact you to ask for further information. This could be information such where you are registered to vote, or how much time you spend at your second home.

If we do need to check, we will send you a questionnaire to fill out and send back to us. The answers you give will help us to make a decision on whether to award you the discount.

How to apply

You can apply for the discount by completing our other council tax enquiry form.

If your second home is located in an area which is not part of Birmingham, you will also need to include a copy of your second home’s Council Tax bill with your application.

What happens next

Once we review your application, we will contact you to let you know if you have been awarded the discount. This may take at least 2 weeks.

Page last updated: 15 September 2025