Guides
Keeping an English home when moving to Burgundy
Keeping your English property after moving to Burgundy? Check its council tax treatment before relying on the old bill in your two-home budget.
Contents
Your Burgundy purchase budget is taking shape, but one figure has been carried over unchanged: council tax on the English house you intend to keep. Recheck that amount if the way the property is occupied will change. The issue is not simply how many homes you own. It is how the English property will actually be used once you have moved.
Describe the future home before choosing a tax category
Will a household member continue to use it as their main home? Will it remain furnished for return visits? Or will it be unoccupied and substantially unfurnished while being sold? Do not select a category because its name sounds favourable. Describe the proposed arrangement and ask the relevant council how it would be treated.
The English guidance updated in May 2026 distinguishes empty homes from second homes. For this purpose, a second home is substantially furnished but nobody’s sole or main residence. Councils can choose to charge a premium of up to 100% additional council tax, subject to their local decision. That power does not mean every English second-home bill automatically doubles.
The cited framework applies to England. It should not be extended to a property in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Identify the relevant authority and rules for the property you actually own before bringing any figure into the budget for your move.
Give the council a usable description
“I am going abroad” leaves several questions unanswered. Prepare the property address, intended change date, who will remain there, whether it will be furnished and its expected use during your absence. Explain any planned stages, such as a period between moving out and completing a sale. An initial classification enquiry does not require sending an entire personal financial file.
Ask which rate or premium applies to the address, for which period and what evidence the council needs. Advice received by a friend in another council area is not a determination for your home. Retain the reference to the local policy as well as the answer, so you can understand how the proposed treatment was reached.
A premium exception is not the same as no council tax
GOV.UK describes possible exceptions to the second homes premium, including certain marketing and probate situations, subject to their conditions. It also explains that ordinary council tax remains payable unless a relevant discount or exemption applies. Establish which exception actually fits your circumstances and how to request it. A property advert alone is not a tax decision.
Keep the ordinary charge, potential premium and confirmed exception on separate lines. If an exception is temporary, show its end point in your planning rather than carrying the same reduced figure into every later year. This is particularly useful when the date of a sale remains uncertain and the home may be retained longer than originally expected.
Bring the answer back to your Burgundy choices
You can compare retaining the English house under its intended use with arranging its sale. Each version needs its own established costs and unresolved points. The comparison is not a recommendation about which property to retain. It prevents the French purchase budget from relying on money already required for an overlooked British charge.
If the council’s answer differs from your original assumption, revisit the overall budget before adjusting the French search. You may need a different allowance for works or a different level of recurring expenditure. Making that adjustment while viewing homes is easier than discovering that the old council tax bill was the wrong planning figure after committing.
The Burgundy second-home guide considers the French property. For help defining your search, speak with Shawez Ali, agent immobilier, using a budget whose British tax assumptions have been checked with the appropriate authority or adviser.