Empty property cost calculator
An empty house is not free to own. It is a council tax bill with a premium bolted on, an insurance policy that costs more and covers less, standing charges on utilities nobody is using, and somebody driving over to check the letterbox. This turns all of it into one monthly figure, what it has already cost you, and what one more month of delay is worth. Free, no sign-up, and it uses your own bill rather than a table of council rates that would be wrong by next April.
Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, saved or shared. Last updated 8 August 2026.
1. Council tax and the premium
Take the annual charge from your bill, then add the premium your council actually charges on this property. Both numbers are on the bill or on your council’s website. Nothing is filled in for you, because every council sets its own and the maximums are different in England, Wales and Scotland.
2. The bills that arrive yearly
3. The bills that arrive monthly
Standing charges are payable on an empty house whether or not anything is switched on. Leave anything that does not apply at zero.
4. How long
How the empty property cost is worked out
Two lines of arithmetic. The interesting part is the premium.
Council tax = annual bill x (1 - discount) x (1 + premium)
Monthly cost = council tax / 12
+ (insurance + service charge) / 12
+ every monthly bill added togetherA 100% premium is a doubled bill, not an extra hundred
This is the misreading that makes people ring the council in disbelief. A premium is expressed as a percentage of the ordinary charge and it is added to it. On a £2,280 bill, a 100% premium means £4,560 a year. A 200% premium means £6,840. A 300% premium means £9,120, which is £760 a month for a house nobody is living in.
Councils in England may charge a premium on long-term empty homes, and the maximum they are allowed to charge rises the longer the property stands empty. From April 2025 they may also charge a premium on dwellings occupied periodically, which is the technical description of a second home. The table below is the permitted ceiling, not what you will be charged. Each council decides whether to charge a premium at all and at what level, so the only number worth typing into this calculator is the one on your own bill or on your own council’s website.
| Situation | Maximum premium | Bill becomes | A month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupied as a main home | None | £2,280 | £190 |
| Second home, occupied periodically | 100% | £4,560 | £380 |
| Empty 1 year or more | 100% | £4,560 | £380 |
| Empty 5 years or more | 200% | £6,840 | £570 |
| Empty 10 years or more | 300% | £9,120 | £760 |
The premium steps up while you are still deciding
The schedule is the reason a house that has been empty a while gets harder to keep rather than easier. The calculator holds one premium at a time, deliberately, because guessing when yours changes would be inventing a rule. If your property crosses a threshold during the period you are modelling, run it twice: once at the current premium for the months up to the anniversary, once at the higher one for the months after, and add the two totals together.
If you are not in the UK
The arithmetic on this page works for any local property tax anywhere. Empty and second home surcharges exist in several countries in various forms, and in others there is nothing at all. Put your own annual charge in the first box, put whatever surcharge you actually pay in the premium box, or leave the premium at zero if there is none. Nothing else on the page assumes a country.
The costs people forget
Council tax is the one that makes the news. It is rarely the only one that hurts.
Insurance that costs more and covers less
Most ordinary buildings policies restrict cover once a property has been unoccupied for a set number of consecutive days, commonly somewhere around 30 to 60, and after that the cover typically drops back to a short list of perils. Escape of water, theft and malicious damage are the usual casualties, which are precisely the three things that happen to empty houses. Tell your insurer as soon as the property is empty. An unoccupied property policy costs more, and it comes with conditions: weekly or fortnightly inspections logged, the water drained down or the heating held at a minimum temperature, the letterbox cleared, sometimes the alarm set. Break a condition and the policy is decoration.
Standing charges on nothing
Gas and electricity standing charges are payable per day whether or not a unit is consumed. Water and drainage are usually charged whether or not a tap runs. Add the broadband nobody cancelled and the alarm contract that renewed itself and the monthly figure moves a surprising amount for services literally nobody is using. Reading the meters and cancelling what can be cancelled is an afternoon that pays for itself.
Somebody has to go round
Grass grows, post piles up behind the door and announces the house is empty, gutters block, and an unoccupied policy usually requires the visits anyway. If it is you, that is fuel and a Saturday. If it is a company, it is an invoice. Either way it belongs in the monthly figure, which is what the upkeep field is for.
The interest is a cost even when the capital is not
If there is a mortgage on the property, the interest is money that leaves and does not come back. The capital repayment is not, so put only the interest in. If you are holding the property with money that would otherwise be earning elsewhere, the same logic applies, and you can put that figure in the same box.
Worked examples
A probate house, twelve months from death to completion
The figures the page opens with. A £2,280 annual bill with a 100% premium, £620 of unoccupied insurance, £46 a month of standing charges, £25 of heating over the winter and £40 a month for a gardener and inspection visits.
| Council tax, £4,560 a year | £380.00 a month |
|---|---|
| Of which the premium | £190.00 a month |
| Insurance, £620 a year | £51.67 a month |
| Gas, electricity and water | £46.00 a month |
| Heating and upkeep | £65.00 a month |
| Every month | £542.67 |
| Eight months run up so far | £4,341.33 |
| Four more months | £2,170.67 |
| Total over the year | £6,512.00 |
£6,512 comes out of the residue of the estate, which means it comes out of the beneficiaries, in proportion to their shares and in an amount none of them will ever see itemised unless somebody itemises it. The premium alone is £2,280 of that. Getting the property on the market two months earlier is worth £1,085, which is more than most estates spend on anything discretionary.
A renovation that runs three months late
Same house, bought to refurbish, no premium yet because it has been empty under a year, so £190 a month of council tax rather than £380. The monthly holding cost is £352.67. A six-month project carries £2,116 of holding cost before a single trade is paid. Run three months late and that becomes £3,174, and the extra £1,058 does not show up anywhere in the build budget because nobody put a line in for it. Contingency covers the work going wrong. It rarely covers the time going wrong.
The house that has been empty eleven years
Same £2,280 bill, a 300% premium, so £9,120 a year of council tax, £760 a month. Add the insurance, the standing charges, the heating and the upkeep and the monthly figure is £922.67, which is £11,072 a year to own a house nobody lives in. The premium schedule exists precisely to make that arithmetic uncomfortable, and it works.
What each input means
- Annual bill at the normal rate
- The charge for the property before any premium, discount or exemption. It is on the bill. If you have only ever seen a premium-inflated figure, divide it: a bill carrying a 100% premium is twice the normal rate, one carrying 200% is three times it.
- Premium your council charges
- The extra percentage on top, as your council actually charges it. Not the maximum the law allows, which is a different and usually higher number. If the property has just become empty there may be no premium at all yet.
- Discount or exemption
- Applied to the bill before the premium. A full exemption is 100 and takes the charge to zero. Probate exemptions, exemptions for properties undergoing major repair and single-person discounts all live here. If you do not know whether one applies, leave it at zero and ring the council, because they will not always apply one without being asked.
- Unoccupied buildings insurance
- The premium for the property as it actually is, empty, rather than the policy that was in place when somebody lived there. If you have not told your insurer yet, that is the more urgent job.
- Standing charges
- The daily fixed charges for gas, electricity and water, payable whether or not anything is used. Your supplier publishes a daily rate; multiply it by about 30 for a monthly figure.
- Heating to keep it dry
- An empty unheated house in a cold climate gets damp, and unoccupied insurance policies often require either a minimum temperature or a fully drained system. Whichever you do, do it because the policy says so.
- Garden, cleaning, inspection visits
- Whatever it costs to keep the place looking occupied and to satisfy the inspection condition on the insurance. Include your own fuel if you are the one going.
- Mortgage or loan interest
- Interest only. The capital repayment is not a cost of holding, it is a transfer, and including it makes the monthly figure look worse than it is.
- Months already empty and months still expected
- The first is what it has cost you, which is the number that gets an executor or a co-owner to move. The second is what the current plan costs, which is the number that decides whether the plan is worth it.
Questions about empty property costs
How much does an empty house cost per month?
On the figures this page opens with, about £543 a month: £380 of council tax once a 100% empty homes premium is applied to a £2,280 annual bill, £52 of unoccupied buildings insurance, £46 of gas, electricity and water standing charges, £25 of heating to keep the place dry and £40 of garden and inspection visits. Your own numbers will differ, and the council tax line differs most, because the premium is set by each council. Put your own annual bill and your own premium in and the rest of the arithmetic is the same everywhere.
What is the council tax premium on an empty property?
It is an extra charge on top of the normal council tax bill for a home that is empty or used as a second home. In England the law sets the maximum a council may charge and each council decides whether to charge it and at what level, so the only figure that matters is the one your own council publishes. A 100% premium means a doubled bill, not a bill increased by a hundred pounds. Wales and Scotland run their own schemes, and outside the UK the idea may not exist at all, which is why this calculator asks you for the percentage rather than assuming one.
Do you pay council tax on an empty property during probate?
There is normally an exemption while an estate is being administered, and in England it usually continues for a period after the grant of probate is issued, after which the full bill and any premium can begin. The length of that period and how it is applied are set in law and administered by the council, so ring them, tell them the date of death and the date of the grant, and ask in writing when the charge starts. It is one of the few phone calls in probate that saves real money.
Does my house insurance still cover the property if nobody lives there?
Usually not for long. Most ordinary buildings policies restrict cover once a property has been unoccupied for a set number of consecutive days, commonly around 30 to 60, and after that escape of water, theft and malicious damage are frequently excluded. Tell your insurer the property is empty and why. Either they will endorse the policy or you will need a specific unoccupied property policy, which costs more and carries conditions such as draining the system, weekly inspections and keeping the heating on.
Should I keep the heating on in an empty house?
In a cold climate it is usually cheaper than the alternative, and an unoccupied property insurance policy often requires either a minimum temperature through the winter or the water system fully drained down. A burst pipe in an empty house is not a repair, it is a rebuild of the ceilings below it, and it is exactly the peril that unoccupied policies most often exclude. Whatever you choose, do it because the policy wording says so rather than because it feels prudent.
Can I get the empty homes premium removed?
Sometimes. There are recognised exceptions in England, including a period after probate, properties being actively marketed for sale or letting, homes undergoing major repair work, annexes and dwellings a person is required to occupy for their job. The rules are precise about time limits and evidence, and the council applies them, so ask which exception you are claiming, what proof they want, and get the answer in writing. Do not assume it will be applied automatically, because in practice it often is not.
Is it cheaper to renovate an empty house or to sell it as it is?
The holding cost is what settles it, and it is the number most people leave out. Work out the monthly figure on this page, multiply it by the realistic number of months a renovation will take, and add that to the build cost. If a six-month refurbishment carries £540 a month of holding cost, that is £3,240 of pure overhead before a single trade is paid, and it has to come out of whatever the work adds to the value. Our renovation contingency calculator sizes the other half of that question.
What does it cost to leave a property empty for a year?
Twelve times the monthly figure, and the monthly figure usually rises during the year rather than staying flat, because empty homes premiums step up the longer a property stands empty. On the default figures a year is about £6,510. If the premium moves from 100% to 200% at the twelve-month mark, the following year is not the same again, it is about £8,790. Run the calculator twice, once for each premium, rather than assuming a straight line.
Does this calculator know my council’s rates?
No, on purpose. There are hundreds of councils in the UK alone, each with its own band charges and its own decision about premiums, and any table of them would be out of date within a year. You supply your own annual bill and your own premium, both of which are on your bill or on your council’s website, and the calculator does the rest. That also means it works anywhere, for any local property tax, in eleven currencies.
Is anything I type here saved or uploaded?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged, there is no account, and closing the tab clears it.
If the empty house is part of an estate
This page gives you the monthly number and forgets it when you close the tab, which is the right shape for a calculator and it stays free. What it cannot do is keep the record that goes with it. Every one of these bills is an estate expense that reduces the residue, and every one of them will need evidencing to the beneficiaries eventually. The Estate Executor Organizer holds the property and its costs alongside the rest: a Property & Contents tab for the house itself, an Income & Expenses tab for what the estate spends after the death, an Executor Time & Expenses tab with a receipt flag on every row, and a Distributions tab that shows the beneficiaries what all of it did to their shares. Fourteen tabs, one .xlsx file, no macros, €12 once.
See the executor workbook