Shropshire Council under fire over huge tax rise on father's unsold home
A family struggling to sell their dead father's former Shropshire village home despite reducing the price by more than £50,000 are facing a massive council tax bill due to rules on empty properties.
Richard Pallett, a former county primary school teacher, and one of four siblings who inherited the property, said that despite concerted efforts to sell the home a buyer had not yet been found.
He said that since it was put on the market in March 2023, the family had dropped the price of the home by £53,000 as they attempt to secure a sale.
But because of Shropshire Council rules on empty properties – designed as a crackdown on second homes and a way to bring more houses back into use – the council tax bill for the house, at Penygarreg Close, in Pant, will go up by 100 per cent from April.
The rule comes into force because the house has been empty for more than 12 months, despite it being for sale throughout that period.
It means that the family now face a council tax bill of more than £4,000 on a home they have been desperately trying to sell.
