Report on tackling Island's empty properties published

Tax break for rental income and ending rate exemptions on unoccupied buildings among proposals

Tax breaks on rental income and a new tax on poorly maintained houses are some of the ideas being considered to tackle the number of empty properties on the Isle of Man.

A report looking at ways to reduce the number of empty or dilapidated buildings has been published, and will be laid before Tynwald later this month.

The report comes after an amended motion originally put forward by Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse in June 2023 called for more to be done to encourage those with empty buildings to make them available for occupancy.

Since then, government has consulted internally and taken feedback from local authorities on a range of proposals.

These include offering a five-year tax break to those who let previously empty buildings, and looking at whether the town and village regeneration scheme could be reinstated to tackle vacant commercial premises.

Also under consideration is ending rate exemptions on empty properties, supporting enforcement action on problem properties and introducing a new charge on dilapidated buildings based on their potential rental income.

A public consultation on the proposals will take place later in the year.

The 2021 census revealed there are almost 5,700 empty properties - 15.3% of the Island's housing stock.