Hastings District Council has changed the rules so people with yellow stickered houses will now be offered remission for two rates instalments if they apply for it. Photo: Hastings District Council
Hastings District Council has changed the rules so people with yellow stickered houses will now be offered remission for two rates instalments if they apply for it.
Hastings District Council has bumped up its rates relief offering for yellow stickered property owners, after feedback the current process was unfair.
Previously, red stickered property owners were granted automatic remission for the final two instalments in the rating year.
But yellow stickered property owners were only eligible for remission for one instalment, despite those homes also being unliveable.
They will now be offered remission for two instalments, but they still need to apply for it.
"This brings their entitlement in line with red stickered property owners, which is fair and equitable given in many cases a yellow stickered home is still extensively damaged and therefore uninhabitable," the council's deputy chief executive Bruce Allan said in a statement.
The council said it was also considering options for further rates relief in the next rating year, beginning July.
This week the council revealed plans for an 8.5 percent rates hike from July.