Some second home owners will have to pay more than £10,000 per year from April after local authorities begin charging 100 percent council tax on additional properties.
In an effort to balance the books and reduce pressure on local house prices, many cash-strapped authorities in popular tourist areas will increase the tax due to an act passed last year.
According to data by property website Hamptons, 157 properties will be charged more than £10,000 in council tax, in regions such as Dorset, Bristol, Nottingham and Devon.
In Rutland, seven properties deemed as Band H homes will have the highest council tax bill in the country of £10,684, while the second most expensive area will be the City of Nottinhham, where it will cost £10,624.
The change will affect the highest number of people in Dorset, where 55 second homes will be charged a council tax bill of £10,520.
The 100% tax increase, under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act, will bring in just over £1billion to councils in total, according to Hamptons.
Hamptons found that 205 of the 296 applicable authorities in England will introduce the increased tax from April, or have committed to doing so in the future.
John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group, said the tax “demonstrates the extent to which our taxation system hammers high earners”, which is an “unjustifiable punishment on success and ambition”.
Mr O’Connell believes councils should increase planning approvals to reduce pressures on housing and increase the number of tax-paying households, instead of “penalising wealthy residents”.
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association, which represents councils across England, said: “There is a desperate need for more affordable housing across the country and councils need all options possible to ensure a supply of homes for rent and sale that meets local needs.
They added: “Charging a council tax premium, for long-term empty and second homes, is one way of encouraging owners to bring these properties back into permanent use.
“However, we remain clear that council tax itself has never been the solution to meeting the long-term pressures facing local services, and councils need the powers and resources to build more affordable homes.”