Non-resident council tax. Please help.

tbs624

Broxy wrote: »

The house is on the market considerably under the valuation, has been repaired and redecorated to standard (it's a good house, 9 years old) and is with a reputable estate agent. I really want to sell it rather than rent but am not getting interest from either in any case.

But as I say - my main concern right now, having those other things in hand (!), is about the council tax. Surely I shouldn't have to pay all that?

My bolding.

As far as your EA/LA is concerned you arevery probably "out of sight and out of mind".

Do you have someone who goes round to do the garden etc now and again or does the property sit there looking unloved and unattractive?

Do you still have a mortgage on it? Does your current building insurance cover you fully, with the property being unoccupied for so long?

Bear in mind that if you do let you will have to meet all the usual LL obligations, and would need lender's Consent to Let if on a resi mortgage.

Yes, you are obliged to pay CT if the property is unoccupied and you are the owner. Don't forget that CT covers the costs of roads, contributes to police and fire services etc. Presumably you'd like them to attend if your house was about to be burgled or set fire to?

Do you have any friends/relatives back here who could tart the place up and help you get it marketed by a new EA? Can you take a break from your new life and come back to sort it? You could perhaps look at the cost of a flight home as a set off against future liability for that CT.

Once you got beyond the point at which it has started to "bleed you dry" I would have been looking to get it to auction and get shot of it.

may_fair

HappyMJ wrote: »

How when the OP lives out of the country?

Would the council get the court to get an international arrest warrant and pay to get the OP extradited from the country that they are in back to the UK to face a magistrate? I don't think so. They'll just let it go.

If the council tax goes unpaid for a long enough time they will request a charging order on the house and the proceeds of the sale (if any) can then pay for the council tax.

Enforcement options are in Schedule 4 of the Act.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/14/schedule/4

I don't think 'letting it go' is likely to be one of them. OP may end up being arrested when and if he re-enters the UK.

CIS

For enforcement actions your also best of reading the Council Tax (administration and enforcement) regulations 1992 from about regulation 36 onwards as it puts in the place the enforcement actions stated in the LGFA 1992.