A GALASHIELS property developer has been left baffled after SBC slapped a 200 per cent council tax rise on one of his flats.

Ian Stringer bought a flat in Wood Street in October as an investment, but says he doesn’t understand why the bill has been hiked up as the property is currently uninhabitable.

The 38-year-old told the Border Telegraph: “They (the council) have put the council tax rate on my second property up to 200 per cent and I don’t understand why when nobody is living there.

“They wouldn’t be getting any money in at all if it was still on the market.

“I have spent around £4,000 on repairing the flat and that will rise to about £5,000. There is a lot of damp in the rooms and some of the floor boards have had to be repaired.

“We have started to put the new bathroom in and we have had the plumbers around on Monday. There is no working boiler.

“I wouldn’t live in it and I have lived in some dives.”

Ian, who is a chef at the Buccleuch Arms in St Boswells, also says the raise in unfair as he has done everything by the book.

He added: “Everything I have done has been above board. I could have not said anything about having the place, but I have done everything properly.

“I even applied for a council tax reduction but they bumped it up to 200 per cent. We got a letter from the council saying they were putting it up and I just thought, you’re having a laugh here. I was hoping they had put me in the wrong category.”

Ian has renovated a similar property on the same street in the past and is hoping the new venture will help him when he retires.

He said: “I know the area and wouldn’t be charging big rates like £500 for example. It’s sort of like ‘thanks for taking on an empty property, but here is an extra council tax rise’. It sounds like a card you don’t want to pick up in Monopoly.”

From April this year, Scottish Borders Council changed the level of council tax payable for long term empty properties to 200 per cent.

A Scottish Borders Council spokesperson said: “SBC took the decision to increase the council tax for long term empty properties in February this year with a view to bringing properties back into use and thus increasing the supply of housing available.

“This decision followed a number of other local authorities who also chose to increase council tax for their long term empty properties. 

“There are circumstances where the additional charge may be delayed, with property owners able to get advice from SBC’s Customer Services team via scotborders.gov.uk, phone 0300 100 1800 or visit one of the council’s contact centres.”