Empty home Council Tax Exemption

ynwa

I'll try and keep this short. Please move this to a more relevant board if necessary.

I've purchased a house with the intent on doing it up and eventually moving in. Basically because the house had already been empty for nearly 6 months, I only qualified for about 2 weeks council tax exemption. You may or may not know this is because they will now only give a house 6 months exemption in one go whether you own it or not.

Does anyone have any idea how long it needs to be lived in again before it can be left empty and be council tax exempt once more?

TotallyBroke

I'm not sure if it is still the case but if there is no running water in the property then it cannot be lived in, therefore is exempt from full council tax. Have a look on your local council website and see if that is still the case. If it is then maybe the 6 months rule can be extended as the property will not be habitable.

ynwa

Thanks for your reply, there is running water in the property and although there are further exemptions if a property requires major structural work, mine doesn't. To be fair, I'm probably somewhere between 2 and 6 months away from moving in, depending on how quickly I can get the work done and balance it alongside my job, but at £120 a month, I'd take a sleeping bag down there for a while if it would re-new the exemption in a reasonable timescale!!

NeverInDebt

• property which is empty. This means it has to be unoccupied. The property also has to be substantially unfurnished. The exemption applies for a maximum of six months and the property has to be vacant for the whole of this period (although up to six weeks of occupation during the period is allowed)
• property which is vacant because it needs major repairs or alterations to make it habitable. The exemption applies for a maximum of 12 months whether the work is actually finished or not by then

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/tax/council_tax.htm#Propertiesexemptfromcounciltax

ynwa

NeverInDebt wrote: »

• property which is empty. This means it has to be unoccupied. The property also has to be substantially unfurnished. The exemption applies for a maximum of six months and the property has to be vacant for the whole of this period (although up to six weeks of occupation during the period is allowed)
• property which is vacant because it needs major repairs or alterations to make it habitable. The exemption applies for a maximum of 12 months whether the work is actually finished or not by then

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/tax/council_tax.htm#Propertiesexemptfromcounciltax

Thanks, but that doesn't really answer my question. What I need to know, is how long does the house need to be occupied for, before it can be left empty again and a qualify for a new 6 months exemption.

Like I say, I'd go and sleep on the floor for a month if it meant I could move out of it and get another 6 months tax exemption!

CIS

A 6 week period of occupation is required before the Class C can be re-awarded although the interpretation is a bit rough as to whether a 6 week period of furnishing the property and paying the relative charge will suffice in lieu of occupation.

We have several legislation guides at work and they tend to disagree regarding the 6 week period and whether actual occupation is required.(in any case though the 6 week period applies regardless of interpretation)