council tax responsibility

may_fair

neeny444 wrote: »

I will speak to them as soon as I can but will cancel the license in the meantime

Don't. I'm fairly sure you'd need a separate TV licence.

See http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/tenants-and-lodgers-aud2/

may_fair

neeny444 wrote: »

The house was built like this on purpose it is not a conversion.

If it was originally purpose-built as two separate and self-contained dwellings, then there would be separate addresses/leasehold titles, utilities, etc, for each unit.

You say that there's an internal door connecting the two units, (presumably locked?), which suggests that it was originally a single dwelling. It may or may not have been 'officially' converted into two units, but from the sound of it, legally, the property is still a single dwelling - either way, your tenancy wouldn't be an assured shorthold tenancy.

I'm guessing it's a period property, and with larger properties the basement level often has a separate front door as the basement was used as the kitchen/servant's quarters. In such a set up, it's very easy to make the basement self-contained, simply by installing a kitchen/bathroom, and locking the door between the ground floor and basement. In an official conversion, you'd build a wall where the connecting door is, and get separate utilities etc., which isn't the case here.