Council Tax Technicalities!

barginboyrob

Hi,

My girlfriend got a job in London and saw an advert on gumtree for a room, for £425 including council tax so moved in 1 month ago.

The owner/flatmate who is a bank manager is intending on becoming a mature student this October.

Now she wants to charge my girlfriend council tax and she is saying she is not going to pay any herself as she is exempt. She says she owns the property though. Does she have to pay?

I saw a letter from the council saying she hasn't been paying her council tax in the past. Not sure if that helps, she's generally a dodgy person so I'm not sure if she is trying to get my gf to give her money so that she can pay the existing debt.

Any advice?

CIS

There is a 'Hierarchy of Liability' which governs who pays council tax on a property - A resident owner is a position 1 or 2 whereas your girlfriend would be at position 5 or so.

Regardless of status (the owner would be an exempt student) the person who falls highest in the hierarchy would always be liable for the council tax due even if they themselves are disregarded from the calculation.

There would be a 25% discount as the owner is a F/T student but he would be the person liable for the remaining 75%.

There is nothing to stop him charging your girlfriend a fee equivalent to the council tax but at the end of the day he, as resident owner, remains responsible for ensuring it is paid and would be the person liable for legal action if payments were not made.

lincroft1710

Further to CIS's excellent post I would make a couple of suggestions.

Firstly, has owner definitely declared your gf as 2nd adult occupier? How much of £425 is for CT? I personally wouldn't pay any extra unless it could be proved to me that owner had exemption as student and had CT bill for only 75% of full amount.

Secondly, if the owner is "dodgy", from experiences of friends who have been lodgers where owner is less than honest, I would suggest your gf find alternative accom.