Paris: up to 60% tax surcharge on empty homes

Paris approved a steep escalation of its vacant-homes surcharge — up to 60% on taxable rental value — targeting roughly a hundred thousand vacant or under-occupied dwellings, contested terrain in a municipales campaign where the right has its best shot in 25 years at the Hôtel de Ville.

UK councils can already charge a 300% council tax premium on long-empty homes; Paris ties the charge to rental value, a sharper instrument, useful for the London and coastal-authority empty-homes debate.