From April this year, local authorities in England could charge additional council tax on second homes, and Warwick District Council was amongst the Councils who introduced this second homes premium.

Following consideration, the monitoring officer is of the view that the charge for the second homes council tax premium was not correctly approved by council, therefore the charge on properties was incorrectly applied.

A statement from the council explained: "When implementing this premium, the guidance from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government states that councils should carefully consider whether to charge the premium and assess the possible impacts of doing so, including on the local population, its communities and the local economy.

"Though Cabinet considered and approved applying this premium in February 2025 at a premium of 100 percent, there is no clear evidence that the cabinet considered the possible impacts of applying this premium.

"In addition, though council considered and approved the second homes premium in February 2023 and set the council tax in February 2024 and February 2025, none of these decisions explicitly state that the premium applied would be 100 percent.

"The council now needs to consider whether to remedy this position, which is subject to a report by the monitoring officer, under section 5 of the 

"Local Government & Housing Act 1989, that will be considered by council at an extraordinary meeting on 3 December 2025 (after the conclusion of the scheduled meeting)."