For Council Tax purposes, second homes are properties that you own or rent, which are furnished, and where no-one lives as their main residence.
A full Council Tax charge is currently payable on furnished second homes.
From 1 April 2025, properties that are unoccupied and furnished, often referred to as second homes, will be subject to a 100% premium (200% payable), provided no exemption or exception criteria has been met.
The decision to introduce this new premium for periodically occupied properties, known as "second homes," was approved by Wirral Council on 21 February 2024, following changes to government legislation, which allowed us to do this.
The change means that a 100% premium is applied and is payable in addition to the standard council tax in respect of a "second home" that meet the following conditions: