Being charged council tax for unfurnished/uninhabitable under repair property

stylus360

Hi All

Bought a house for rental in June tenant moved in Oct. During June- Oct period the house was stripped top/bottom, totally uninhabitable/unfurnished.

I have just recieved a council tax bill for this period. I contacted my council and told them the situation and they said i needed to supply a builders report yet i have done all work by myself/family.

Was it my duty to inform them ?

How can i prove this to avoid the payment ??

When i bought my main residence i just informed them over the phone of the same situation and all was fine.....

Would not a written statement of me just suffice as i do with single occupancy in my residence for 25% discount ?Why is this discount any different ??

Anyone help

Cheers

theartfullodger

Pleased to hear a Council is wanting some evidence before chucking away public money.

Of course you should have informed them. Of course you should have done it in writing, keeping a copy. Normal business practice to do that sort of thing. Also keep all records for at least 6 years in case HMRC want to investigate - and make sure you've the records sorted to allow CGT reduction to be claimed for Capital investment possibly many years hence.

I'm sure you'll have all the paperwork & photos to show the Council

Why different? Probably because too many dodgy people have been spotting a way of wriggling out of paying Tax. And that nice Mr Cameron is telling councils to reduce spending by 7% pa for 4 years - over a quarter!!! And the councils realize they need to do everything they can to increase income

HighVoltage

As previous poster had advised, yes you should have contacted them. I did a similar thing for a rental and someone from council visited to inspect property to ensure it was uninhabitable.

Doozergirl

There are two different types of exemption that might apply.

One is Class C - empty & unfurnished which should get you a 6 month exemption, but that 6 months crosses ownership. They won't inspect the property but if the previous owner had already had part or all of that exemption beofre you bought, you will only get what is left.

The second is a Class A - undergoing work that renders the property uninhabitable. Valid for up to a year. They will come and verify that the property is uninhabitable.

But it goes without saying that you should have told them! You should have contacted them when you bought the place and explained what would be happening.

You aren't going to get a Class A exemption now. If the place was eligible for a Class C
I would send them a copy of your completion statement showing the date you bought the property and then a copy of the tenancy agreement. You'll have to lay it out to them
a)they will know the status before you bought
b) you have shown the date you bought
c) you have main residence elsewhere and are paying accordingly
d) tenant moved in October
e) the nature of tenancy agreements means that tenants have a min 6 month period therefore house must have been empty.

Be gracious, apologise for your mistake in not informing them and keep you fingers crossed!

stylus360

But the council is stating that the 6 months starts when the house was vacated and for sale over a year before ?

Not from my date of purchase ?

Is this corrcet thought the 6 months would start at my date of purchase ??

Cheers guys. Good advice.

00ec25

stylus360 wrote: »

Is this corrcet thought the 6 months would start at my date of purchase ??

No the unoccupied exemption lasts 6 months from the date it was first claimed , ie became unoccupied. Hence the earlier posting that where this period crosses over the change of ownership, then it may have all been used up by the previous owner so you cannot claim because there is none left

the exemption will only become available again after there has been a new period of occupation, clealry that is not applicable in your case as it was unoccupied before you let it and that "unoccupation" started more than 6 months ago when the property was put on the market for sale, ie your vendor has had the exemption leaving none for you

Doozergirl

You've shot yourself in the foot then. Try and prove the class A with receipts etc but it really would have been easier if you'd just told them in the first place. There's no doubt it's your responsibility to give them the opportunity to assess the property for an exemption like that.

Jackinbox99

Doozergirl wrote: »

There are two different types of exemption that might apply.

One is Class C - empty & unfurnished which should get you a 6 month exemption, but that 6 months crosses ownership. They won't inspect the property but if the previous owner had already had part or all of that exemption beofre you bought, you will only get what is left.

The second is a Class A - undergoing work that renders the property uninhabitable. Valid for up to a year. They will come and verify that the property is uninhabitable.

But it goes without saying that you should have told them! You should have contacted them when you bought the place and explained what would be happening.

You aren't going to get a Class A exemption now. If the place was eligible for a Class C
I would send them a copy of your completion statement showing the date you bought the property and then a copy of the tenancy agreement. You'll have to lay it out to them
a)they will know the status before you bought
b) you have shown the date you bought
c) you have main residence elsewhere and are paying accordingly
d) tenant moved in October
e) the nature of tenancy agreements means that tenants have a min 6 month period therefore house must have been empty.

Be gracious, apologise for your mistake in not informing them and keep you fingers crossed!

Spot on.

Other point to note, is if the previous owner has claimed any kind of excemption immediately prior to you buying, then that will screw things up. My brothers house had an excemption for reposession prior to him buying it which meant he couldnt claim for a class C excemption but had to go for a Class A - in which case they send out a building inspector to make sure he isnt lying. (at least thats his experience with his local council).

Me on the other hand, had no problems claiming class C when I first bought my 2nd home which needed gutting. Its valid for 6 months, which will be more than long enough.

Key is letting the council tax people know as soon as you get the house, as like any sort of excemption / benefit they will not backdate unless you have exceptionally good reason for not informing them in the first place.

dancingfairy

The trouble with the uninhabitable classs is it has to be REALLY uninhabitable - ie no external wall/no roof etc - something major - no boiler etc isn't really going to cut it for this exemption - and yes you would need surveyors reports/builders evidence etc.
df

ConfusedDep

When they came an inspected my house for a class A, the inspector said it either had to have no kitchen or no bathroom for it to apply.

Doozergirl

ConfusedDep wrote: »

When they came an inspected my house for a class A, the inspector said it either had to have no kitchen or no bathroom for it to apply.

Yes. I do wonder if the property would have properly qualified. Every time we've had it, it's been full scale, strip back the walls, ripping out a rotten skeleton sort of work; even the exemption type refers to major structural changes. No roof certainly helps! They won't do it for a small scale renovation.