Council tax - help needed

[Dr Imran T]

Hello Chaps

My wife and I have recently acquired a property and we are currently in the process of major refurbishment. At present, we do not live the 'recently acquired' property however, we have had notification from the council that we are liable for the payment of council tax.

I was under the impression that we do not have to pay the council tax unless we actually lived in the property?

I therefore called the council and asked for clarification and they told to put everything in writing.

Can anyone advise on this matter please? naturally I do not want to be paying council tax until the property is complete.

Many thanks.

[Simpo Two]

When my mother had to move into a care home she got a refund of Council Tax backdated to the day she left. They were easy to deal with and the refund came through very quickly.

However IIRC there is only a fixed period of grace.

[maddernj]

You can get a 6 month break if the property is un inhabited or 12 months if its not habitable due to building work. I bought a place in Sep and now have a Classification "A" exemption (Lots of building work). Make sure you sort it out soon though, I had to pay £105 due to me being a plank and the outstanding balance of my tax going to court.

[Gav147]

From what i remember you don't have to pay council tax if the property is inhabitable during the works or is having major structural changes thus making it unsafe to live in during the works, however I think as the person above posted this is limited to a fixed period of time of (i think) six months.

As said the council are pretty good to deal with usually and will help you.

[Dr_Rick]

I've used the 6-months gap due to renovation claus. You have to prove the house is uninhabitabe, either by a visit from the council, or by stating the period for which it will be uninhabitable.

Their definition mainly revolves around sleeping facilities and probably kitchen / bathroom. Simply not living there doesn't count but as you've stated you're renovating that shouldn't be a problem.

Dr Rick

[Dr Imran T]

Thank you chaps. That is most helpful sure I can prove all the things you mention. I have a little boy and thus the house cannot be lived in until all work is complete and thus safe for us all to live in.

I shall mention this in the letter to the council.

I was not sure whether I had to clarify that the house was going to be lived in by us or prospective tenants. For some reason I thought this had some affect on the councils decision to charge council tax...

[Simpo Two]

Dr Imran T said:

I was not sure whether I had to clarify that the house was going to be lived in by us or prospective tenants. For some reason I thought this had some affect on the councils decision to charge council tax...

The Council generally expect each house to be paying Council Tax; they're not fussy who it comes from. If rented, the tenants pay it.

The issue for you is drawing the line between inhabitable and uninhabitable; obviously your interests are opposed to the Council's; whether they will send a chap round to see I don't know.

[Mr GrimNasty]

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgover...

[Wings]

There is of course the option of letting a student, or if your partner is a student live in the property, then there is no Council Tax to pay. In Bristol the Council have tightened up on those trying to evade paying Council Tax, and have started to inspect property, where a claim is made that the property is uninhabitable.

[rovermorris999]

Simpo Two said:

The issue for you is drawing the line between inhabitable and uninhabitable; obviously your interests are opposed to the Council's; whether they will send a chap round to see I don't know.

This is the nub of the matter. To be uninhabitable in the council's eyes it'll need to have no kitchen/bathroom/power etc. When I was renovating a place I had to fill in a form and send pictures to prove it.

[SimonV8ster]

If the property really is unihabitable (like no services,kitchen,bathroom, open to the elements,etc) then apply to the Valuation Office to get it removed from the Council Tax list, if it is just a refurbishment then apply to the local council offices for an empty rate period as it is not currently habitable.

What ever you do start to take some photos and take notes of when work started,etc.

[Dr Imran T]

Well chaps, I have heard back from the Council and thought I should update the thread accordingly.

To get Council tax exemption the building needs to be structurally unsafe. The fact that the house has no heating, bathroom or kitchen does not matter - so they told me.

I sent across the surveyors report which highlighted that there was asbestos in the property but that still did not satisfy the council board.

A couple of other points - the council used to allow a 50% discount on a vacant second property. Recent changes put in place by local councils have abolished this. This means a vacant property is now charged as per normal whether you live it or not.

There is some leeway however, the council can make a house exempt under a certain condition for a period up to 6 months. This applies to the property only.

Thus when we purchased the property, 3 months of council tax exemption had already been applied and there was another 3 months left which they (council) applied to the property when we purchased it.

All said and done it is not easy to get an exemption beyond their 6 month limit. I spent several hours on the phone to the council before I could make sense of their policy. Every time I rang them I was told something slightly different which did not help.

In a nutshell, your house has to be in a very serious state of disrepair before an full exemption can be applied. They are very strict on what constitutes structural integrity!

HTH

[Simpo Two]

Useful summary. Cash-strapped Councils are closing lots of loopholes in all areas.

[hoppo4.2]

This must be different between local councils. i got a 12 month excemption from mine in december.
The inspector visited and agreed that i was not living there and that the house was not habitible.

as i have no

bathroom
kitchen
or heating.