If I buy a House but dont move in for a couple of months.....

MJS2011

Citizens Advice website suggests the following is exempt from Council Tax:-

"A 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."

evoke

My council offers 50% off for an unoccupied property for the first six months. You also get 25% for sole occupancy of the property forever.

CIS

I think there's been a bit of confusion here:

A property that is unoccupied and unfurnished is exempt for up to 6 months - a 'Class C exemption' (this will include any period claimed by the previous owner) however this is 'reset' after a 6 week period of occupancy. This exemption is set nationally

A property that is furnished and unoccupied is charged at between 50% and 100% (set at a local level) and may be staggered e.g 6 months at 50% and the rest at 10%.

The property would only be classed as a second home is if was being used as such - e.g you lived there part of the time. This again is set a local level of between 50% and 90%.

G_M

Look - as soon as you own it you are responsible for all bills.

Now, some bills may be discounted, or minimal, or zero-rated, but it is your job to contact the providers and apply for any discounts etc.

Even if you don't use electricity - some accounts have a standing charge, so unless you actually cut the electricity off you will have to pay this. Same with council tax.

Even the TV licence - you'll need to tell them there is no TV in the property.

Henry_Hoover_2

The empty and unfurnished discount only applies for 6 months, providing that it hasn't been claimed in the previous 12 months.

When I bought my house, it was empty and uninhabitable, yet I couldn't claim the discount because the previous owner had used up the 6 months exemption.

I also had to pay the full amount and couldn't claim the single occupant discount, because the house didn't have an occupant!

My local authority are really hard to deal with, and insist on inspecting the property before agreeing the discount, but are so backlogged that it takes months.

CIS

The empty and unfurnished discount only applies for 6 months, providing that it hasn't been claimed in the previous 12 months.

Not quite correct - as long as there has been a 6 week gap a full 6 month Class C exemption can be claimed again, so in theory a Class C could be claimed from Jan to June, have 6 weeks of occupancy and be claimed again from the middle of August (these sorts of cases tend to be treated with suspicion)

motherofstudents

I wonder if it depends on which council is involved. My son bought a house in December and has 12 months free of council tax and then possibly 6 months at 50%. They did send someone round to make sure it was uninhabitable. We have a flat which is exempt for 6 months and then a further 6 months if there is no furniture.

Jeffrey_Shaw

NB: the law re CT exemptions in Wales is, I think different from that in England.

sonastin

I bought a repossession that had been empty for over a year. I phoned the council and said "the purchase completed on xxxx but it needs a lot of work so I can't move in until xxxx" (about 3 weeks later). The council just sent me a bill which started from the date I told them I was going to move in on. I actually moved in 6 days later but decided against phoning back for another 6 days exemption in case I wasn't supposed to get any at all, as the mortgagee must have used up the 6 months easily!

CIS

NB: the law re CT exemptions in Wales is, I think different from that in England.

E & W are the same - Scotland is different on some matters.