Council tax - before assessment

adarynefoedd

Hello - does anybody know about council tax on new / converted residential property. The house is in Wales.

A friend moved into a newly converted, rented barn in September 2007. He notified the Council of the move as did the landlord.

He has only just received notification from the assessment service in Merthyr of their intention to assess. The question is - is he liable for the council tax retrospectively to September 2007 as it is likely to be a Band F or G, huge amount? Can he negotiate a slow repayment plan? Is this delay in assessment common? Does it amount to maladministration?

Diolch yn fawr am eich cymorth / thank you for your help.

lincroft1710

adarynefoedd - If effective date is Sep 07 for the barn, then yes he's liable from that date. When I worked in the Valuation Office Agency (responsible for banding dwellings for CT) this was not unknown, I dealt with several cases where several years had passed before a dwelling was banded.

It could be argued that your friend, knowing he had to pay CT and although he had informed the council he had not chased it up and should have in the meantime put some money by. I'm not saying it's his "fault" and the council certainly aren't blameless but.....

Maladministration may be difficult to prove and certainly wouldn't let him off paying. He should approach council about time to pay, sooner rather than later.

Not perhaps answer you wanted to hear but it's how I see the situation.

BTW pleased to hear you're still not smoking.

CIS

TBH in cases like this we tend to allow the balances to be spread over 18-24 months so that a person isn't hit with a huge bill to pay in the current year. You need to contact your council to arrange a repayment schedule.