Chelmsford City Council’s leader has defended a council tax rise that will see just short of £5 added to the average band D household’s bill.

Empty home owners will also face double the amount that owners of occupied homes will pay.

The council is proposing to increase council tax by 2.6 per cent, just under 10 pence per week or £4.93 per year.

Council leader Roy Whitehead said: “From our point of view the amount is in line with inflation.

“Effectively we have to keep in line with increased costs and salaries and so on which are agreed by Government so it’s a modest amount.”

The council is also set to agree on increasing the amount of council tax on empty homes to help tackle Chelmsford’s housing shortage.

However the current 100 per cent discount applied for properties left empty for up to three months will be left unchanged.

New laws means that from April 1, the maximum premium can be increased to 100 per cent on properties empty for two years or more, meaning that liable persons would pay double the normal council tax.

From April 1 2020 the maximum premium can be increased to 100 per cent on properties empty for more than two years, but fewer than five years.

A premium of up to 200 per cent can be imposed on properties empty for more than five years, making the maximum charge three times the usual council tax.

From April 1 2021, the maximum premium on properties empty for more than 10 years can be increased to 300 per cent.

The council has calculated that if the long term empty premium were to be increased to 100 per cent from April 1 2019 on 118 properties currently deemed empty, the council might expect the additional council tax liability to increase to £203,000.

Chelmsford’s share of this would be approximately £26,000, – an increase of £14,000.

A report to the council’s cabinet said: “Increasing the long term empty premium in respect of properties empty for more than two years to 100 per cent with effect from April 1 2019 is a proportionate approach to the problem of empty properties, especially given the pressure on housing.

“It is hoped that increasing the cost of leaving a property empty long term will encourage owners to bring properties back into occupation.

“If it does not, then the additional council tax levied will help to mitigate the issues that empty properties can create.

“Reducing the length of time that a discount is awarded when a property first becomes empty would generate relatively little additional income for Chelmsford, while creating a significant administrative burden.

“Many empty periods are created when a property is ‘void’ between tenancies.

“Not only would the council potentially be creating many more smaller debts, with attendant collection difficulties, it may prove a disincentive to landlords.”