Councillors are making a rod for their own back by allowing uninhabitable properties to be rates exempt.
That’s the view of Councillor David Ashford who called on fellow members of Douglas council to end the concession which, he said, can actually be an incentive to some people to allow a property to fall into disrepair rather than maintain it.
‘If a property is not classed as habitable, it incurs no rates,’ Councillor Ashford said.
‘If my understanding is correct, surely that would be an incentive not to carry out repairs on an empty property.’
Mr Ashford suggested a change of approach was called for, perhaps allowing an owner up to two years to carry out repairs and bring a property up to scratch before it again attracted rates payments.
Council leader David Christian said council powers were limited: ‘There are some properties that have stood empty for 20 and 30 years and it’s ludicrous for those owners not to be paying rates.’
He said the council had recently spent between £60,000 and £70,000 on a house in Derby Road eradicating rot. We have been in contact with the owner who lives abroad and a charge has been placed on the property. If the owner has no interest, we should be able to recoup the rate payers’ money,’ he said.
Currently the council can step in to do essential remedial work but the expenditure can only be recouped on sale of the property if the owner has failed to comply with a court notice to repair, making it a drawn out process.
The discussion followed a fine of £100 with £100 costs imposed on a the owner of a house in Brighton Terrace by Douglas magistrates. The property is in reasonable repair and not uninhabitable, but complaints related to scaffolding erected at the front and an unpainted door.
Councillor Bill Malarkey said it made the council’s job harder if they were not supported by the courts. ‘This has been going on since 2009 and the council asked for a £1,500 fine. The council has had to pay the rest of the costs. What is the point in extra powers if the courts respond like this?’ he said.