Council Tax SIngle Occupany Discount

stripeyfox

A colleague of mine has started renting a house on her own (with a child) and I think therefore she is entitled to 25% discount from her council tax. She has approached the council about this and they have asked her for every detail imaginable - bank accounts, wage slips, statements etc. Is this normal? She is not seeking additional benefit. How does checking bank accouts verify she is living alone?
Surely the 25% single occupancy discount is not decided on how much savings one has?

silvercar

25% is for single occupancy. The council are probably trying to assess if she is also entitled to council tax benefit.

brodev

Pub chat the other night about council tax. one guy said that he and his wife had 2 houses and that they claimed that the husband lived at one and the wife at the other. This meant that they could claim 25% reduction at each. I sais i thought that this was illegal but he insisted that it wasn't. As I have a holiday home and if he is right I could do this I have decided to ask the experts. Anybody know?

mac123

you can only have one sole/main residence so this is illegal and if caught, the council will backdate the change.

thing is, from April 2004 the govt gave councils the right to amend th discount for second/holiday home from anywhere between 50% down to min 10%.

People like this are not paying their dues and taking money away from YOUR public services ...

taxi97w

25% discount means paying 75% of the full amount (what a couple would pay).
Therefore if the full amount is £800, then a single would pay £600.
If a married couple are both doing this illegally then they are paying £1200 together.
If they had done it legally, they would only have to pay the full £800-when split between two would be £400 each.
So basically they are each paying £200 more each than they would have if they had had done it legally.
One example of crime doesn't pay.

Murtle

Do you have to pay council tax on your 2nd property though taxi97w??

taxi97w

Murtle wrote:

Do you have to pay council tax on your 2nd property though taxi97w??

This is Cheltenham Council's policy.

'The council has reduced council tax discount on second homes and removed the discount on properties that have been left empty long-term.

Discount on second homes
The Local Government Act 2003 gave councils new discretionary powers to reduce the 50 percent discount currently awarded in respect of second homes with effect from 1 April 2004. Second homes are defined as furnished properties which are not occupied as someone’s main residence. This includes furnished properties that are unoccupied between tenancies.

On 1 December 2003, Cheltenham Borough Council, in support of its current housing policies, decided to reduce the discount to 10 percent in respect of all properties in its area classed as second homes. This will be effective from 1 April 2004. '

If it looks like I don't know what I'm talking about, it's probably because I don't!

Murtle

lol, thanks - I'll look it up for my area then as it seems they can make their own minds up as to what they want to charge!!!

thanks

M

tunner53

I live on my own and get single persons allowance on my council tax, my girlfriend recently was bought out by her ex husband and he declared her living with me on his council tax. She's in the process of buying her own property and I don't deny that she has stopped with me odd nights but also stops with friends and relations but mostly uses my address as a postal address. I had a council tax letter asking for the full amount due to her ex's input.
Has anybody any idea how long someone can stay as a guest or temporarily and do they have to be registered anywhere at all.
Cheers

Robert_Sterling

Ask the local council surely they will know what the rules are.

mac123

Murtle wrote:

lol, thanks - I'll look it up for my area then as it seems they can make their own minds up as to what they want to charge!!!

thanks

M

Well they are allowed to make their own minds up as to what to charge for second home between 50 - 10%- as per my original post