The cap is gone. What replaced it is a national default figure that a council may go above or below, or not apply at all.

Before any of that bites there is an earlier question, so this page takes them in order: exemptions first, then discount or premium, then the exclusions. Do you pay council tax on an empty property in Scotland covers the liability question behind it.

Several classes of them, and this is where to start. Schedule 1 to the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 sets out the classes, and where one applies no council tax is due at all.

The classes that matter for an empty home

Check this list before anything else

An exemption beats a discount, and it certainly beats a premium. The classes are in the 1997 Order, and you apply to the council for the one you say applies.

Class 4 has a reset rule worth knowing

The unoccupied and unfurnished exemption runs for under 6 months, and it resets only after 3 or more months of continuous occupation. A short stay between lets does not start the clock again.

And class 2 has two limits, not one

Major repair or structural alteration attracts up to 12 months from last occupation. It also runs out no more than 6 months after the work is substantially completed, whichever of the two comes first.

A 50% discount by default. Councils may vary it, but they must keep it between 10% and 50%, and no increase may be applied to this category at all.

Where it comes from

The Council Tax (Variation for Unoccupied Dwellings) (Scotland) Regulations 2013, as amended by SSI 2023/389 and SSI 2026/169, are the instrument. The 50% is the starting point rather than a fixed entitlement.

So the discount your council actually gives can be anywhere in that range. Check the published charges for the year rather than assuming half.

The ladder, in order

When it has been continuously unoccupied for more than 12 months. Occupation of under 3 months as somebody’s sole or main residence does not count as occupation, and use as a second home does count.

The 12 months has to be continuous

A short period of occupation does not break the run unless it lasts at least 3 months as a sole or main residence. That is what stops a brief stay resetting the clock.

A premium only becomes possible after the 12 months

Before that point the property sits in the unoccupied category, where an increase is not permitted. The premium question arises only once the property has been empty more than a year.

Second home use counts as occupation for the 12-month test

A property used as a second home is not accruing long-term empty time, though it may be carrying a second home charge instead. Do you pay council tax on a second home in Scotland covers that.

Your council decides, and since 1 April 2026 there is no statutory ceiling on what it may set. SSI 2026/169 sets a national default of 100% for long-term empty homes and second homes, and a council may set a rate above or below it, apply none at all, or apply a discount instead.

What was removed, and by what

The cap was removed by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, which amended section 33 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. Guidance for councils is in local government finance circular 6/2026.

So the 100% is a starting point rather than a limit. Describing it as the maximum, which most published guidance still does, has been wrong since 1 April 2026.

Before and after

Why this page does not print a rate for your council

Rates now differ from one council to the next and are reset each year, and published figures for the same council have not always agreed. Any number we printed here would be out of date before your next bill.

Look at your own council’s published council tax charges for the financial year, or ask for them in writing. Why has your council tax gone up covers the wider picture on rates.

Two situations, both in Schedule 2 to the 2013 Regulations. A property being actively marketed, and a recently purchased property under repair.

The exclusions

Actively marketed means evidenced

The property must be marketed on appropriate terms and at an appropriate price, and the council will want evidence. It also applies only while the property has been unoccupied for under 2 years.

So the exclusion runs out. A property that has sat unsold for longer than that falls back into the premium.

The exclusion has to be claimed

Neither exclusion applies automatically. Write to the council, say which one you rely on, and send the evidence with the letter rather than waiting to be asked.

Keep a copy and a note of the date. A premium already charged can be reviewed once the council accepts the exclusion applied for the period.

What evidence to send

• The agent’s marketing particulars, with the date they went live and the asking price.
• A record of viewings, offers and any price reductions.
• For a recent purchase, the date of entry and the schedule of works.
• The dates the property has been unoccupied, which is what the council is measuring.

It is a separate category with its own test, and there is no waiting period. A second home is a furnished dwelling that is nobody’s sole or main residence and is lived in for at least 25 days in the 12-month charging period.

Furnished and 25 days are both part of the test

A property that is unfurnished, or that is lived in for fewer than 25 days, is treated as an empty home instead. The definition is in regulation 2 of the 2013 Regulations as amended.

Second home status applies immediately rather than after 12 months. The discretion to charge on second homes came in from April 2024 under SSI 2023/389.

The 2026 default reaches both

SSI 2026/169 sets the same national default for second homes as for long-term empty homes, and the same freedom for councils to depart from it. Do you pay council tax on a second home in Scotland goes into the detail.

If the banding is what is wrong

A premium is charged on top of the band, so a wrong band makes a premium worse. How do you challenge your council tax band in Scotland sets out the proposal route to the Assessor.

Work through the order again, in writing, and put the strongest point first. An exemption beats an exclusion, an exclusion beats a premium, and all three beat an argument about affordability.

The order to argue it in

• Is the property within an exemption class in the 1997 Order, and for what period?
• Is it within a Schedule 2 exclusion, and can you evidence the marketing or the purchase date?
• Has it actually been continuously unoccupied for more than 12 months on the council’s own dates?
• Is the band right, and is the property correctly on the valuation list at all?

Ask the council what relief it operates

Ask in writing what discretionary relief the council has and how to apply, and put the request in the same letter as the exemption point. Can you get a council tax discretionary reduction covers what is and is not available in Scotland.

Where an unresolved dispute goes

Liability and water charge appeals go to the Local Taxation Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, which took over on 1 April 2023, and run to 4 months. Band proposals go to the Assessor first.

And do not let the arrears run while you argue

A premium bill is recoverable in exactly the same way as any other council tax, including by summary warrant with the 10% statutory addition. Our council tax debt advice page sets out how we help.