‘I told the council my mum died – then they doubled her tax bill'

Telegraph

10-04-2025

Just seven days after Stuart Sommerville, 62, lost his mother unexpectedly, £4,000 worth of council tax bills landed on his doorstep.
His mum, Margaret, had died aged 86 on March 12, and one of Stuart's first actions had been to return her Careline bracelet – a device worn on the wrist or neck that allows the user to easily call for help in an emergency by pressing a button – to West Norfolk and King's Lynn council.
The bracelet is given to vulnerable people living alone, and he was anxious not to take up council resources when they no longer needed it.
However, Stuart's thoughtful gesture alerted the local authority to the fact his mother's home – which he partly owns – was sitting empty – triggering a double council tax bill.
Stuart is one of dozens of readers who have written in to Telegraph Money to complain they have been swept up in a nationwide crackdown on second homes, intended to ease housing shortages.
On April 1, over 200 local authorities took advantage of new powers which allow them to charge a 100pc premium on homes which are furnished, but not the owner's main residence.
Stuart says: 'They've got no kind of empathy for people. They just want their money.'
While council taxes are usually frozen in the first six months after an owner's death, his mother's property did not qualify for this exemption because the home is also in his name.
In 2016, prior to his father's death, a portion of the house was transferred to Stuart to protect it in case his mother had to go into care.
The self-employed mechanic does not own a home of his own, and instead rents a cottage near Norwich with his wife, a hairdresser. They already pay £2,060 a year in council tax for this property.
Stuart now faces a bill of more than £4,000 on his mother's home, a stress he has had to juggle while organising her funeral. He has enlisted the help of a solicitor to contest the charge.
'It just seems to me the council are making up their own rules as they go along', says Stuart. 'Now I have to pay council tax for our rented cottage and half of a house in a different council area'
Norfolk has one of the highest proportions of second homes in the UK, and one in 20 residential properties in West Norfolk and King's Lynn is a second home, according to the council.
But for local people like Stuart, second home council tax premiums are not targeting the right people.
'There is a housing problem, but a lot of it comes down to the council's failure. They've sold all the council houses, then didn't put any more back up again. That's why there's a severe shortage,' he says.
Stuart says that instead of tackling this housing crisis directly, 'they're going after normal working people to try and fill that gap monetarily wise'.
Experts warn that lots more grieving families could soon be in the same predicament as Stuart.
'Council tax is one of the things that people do need to take into account when they decide whether to inherit the property,' says Jo Summers, a spokesperson for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
'If it is going to be a second home, the charges can be quite punitive'
Stuart's story highlights how even without owning your own home, you can still be hit by these changes.
'I just feel really, really as though we've been caught in the crossfire,' he adds.
The additional charges can be a particular challenge while dealing with grief, as well as all the other administrative tasks that come with death.
'It's always very difficult to take financial decisions when you are in grief, the advice is usually to wait before you make any rash decisions', Summers adds.
For Stuart, receiving the first council tax bill just seven days after his mother's death compounded the financial stress for him.
'It's just their lack of empathy and callousness,' he says.
'It wouldn't have been so bad if they had phoned me up and said, 'Look, Mr. Sommerville we're sorry your mother just died, what are your circumstances at the moment?' and just done a little bit of ground work before sending the bill.'
After reviewing his case, a West Norfolk and King's Lynn council spokesman upheld their decision to enforce the bill.
They said: 'Where a property is jointly owned, if one of the owners dies then the other automatically becomes the sole owner and liable for the council tax bill.'
'A person does not need to own a home elsewhere and the [second home] premium still applies even if their main home is rented.'