Discounts axed for empty home owners

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The crackdown follows outrage at the disclosure recently that only three apartments in the Candy brothers' £1.2 billion One Hyde Park development are being used as full-time homes and paying the full council tax. The change of policy would apply to second homes and properties left empty throughout the whole borough, squeezing hundreds of thousands of pounds from wealthy owners.

Philippa Roe, Westminster's cabinet member for strategic finance, said it was unfair on hard-working residents if some people did not pay in full. "We also believe that it is fair that people who can afford to leave a home empty should pay the same amount in council tax as those who live in them all year round," she said. One Hyde Park was dubbed "London's Mary Celeste" when it was revealed that only three flats were occupied full time, meaning their owners must pay the full £1,375.24 levy to the local authority.

An investigation then found that 82 apartments were paying a discounted rate of 90 per cent. Some 49 were classed as second homes, six as empty and 27 were unsold and empty, all paying a discounted rate of £1,237.50.