Unusual housing situation - how much Council tax?

bojz

Hi!

We've been trying to figure this out on our own - hopefully someone can help!

We are a group of six people sharing a house on a joint HMO (house of multiple occupancy) contract. There is only one council tax bill to the house.

Now two of us are on jobseekers allowance and housing benefits and will be eligible for council tax benefits. Three of us are students and would technically be exempt of council tax (I'm guessing only if we lived in a student only house) and one of us is working so liable for council tax.

How will the council tax be calculated in this case?

One option is that because only one person is liable we would get a 25% reduction? The other is that the two counci tax benefits would come to 1/6 + 1/6 so we would get a reduction of one third? How does this work?!

Thanks!

b.

edit: or the third (best option : three students get disregarded, so of the three people that are left, two get council tax benefits of 1/3 + 1/3, so we only pay a third!?

shjo558

The students are ignored and cannot be held liable for Council Tax.

The others will receive a Council Tax bill for the full amount. Those on JSA(IB) will have to claim Council Tax Benefit based on 33% of the full Council Tax bill.

The net Council Tax liability will then be billed to all the non-students in the property.

As one of the JSA(IB) claimants, you should make sure that the bill is paid as the Council could deduct the whole amount straight from your JSA at £3.00 ish per week.

CIS

If its an HMO then you have no liability for Council Tax (the landlord is liable under the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) regs 1992) and thus no recourse to claiming Council Tax Benefit.

Houses in multiple occupation, etc Class C a dwelling inhabited by persons who do not constitute a single household, each of whom either-

(a) is a tenant of, or has a licence to occupy, part only of the dwelling; or

(b) has a licence to occupy but is not liable (whether alone or jointly with other persons) to pay rent or a licence fee in respect of the dwelling as a whole.

You need to speak to the local authority and ensure the Council Tax liability is correctly attributed.

bojz

Damn, the good news was too good to be true then!

Thing is, we are all still students this year, but our landlord agreed to let us stay a year longer, even though three of us will no longer be students, on the condition that we pay for the council tax. So he is the one getting billed obviously. I know many landlords of HMOs pass on the council tax to the tennants anyway, but in this case we agreed to it.

CIS

Passing the equivalent cost to the tenants is allowed, all the law dictate is the charge is in the landlords name and that he is the one who action would be taken against if it isn't paid. Even if you made a personnal agreement regarding the charge it doens't override the landlords legal liability.

evilmonkeychops

CIS is spot on.

bojz

OK, so basically because its an HMO we will have to pay the whole amount?

I mean it makes sense, just wondering if there is any way of reducing the amount!

Thanks anyway!

b.

CIS

OK, so basically because its an HMO we will have to pay the whole amount?

The landlord has to pay full Council Tax, how he recovers the money from you is his perogative.