Council Tax when BTL property is vacant

General Discussion

A BTL has been vacant since June this year due to Covid (a HMO property which made things more challenging than most).

I wrote to the Council (Sefton - Liverpool) to ask if there are any concessions / exemptions for the 6 months duration. The Council re-issued the demand to include a month vacancy discount and said that's all that's possible.

Is that correct? Is there any guidance on this or is it all down to individual council? What are other follow landlords' experience with other Local Councils?

I saw the following on propertyhawk:
'An empty property is exempt from council tax for 6 months, whilst a landlord with an empty furnished property will benefit from a 50% discount. An empty properties exemption only lasts for 6 months after which a 50% discount applies.'

Many thanks!