Landlord wants me to pay him for council tax?

val_84

Hi everyone,

Im after some help. Following on from a divorce I am now renting a place. Its unfurnished and my rent doesnt include any bills.
I have sorted out all my water, gas, electricity etc. I have spoken with the council and received my Council Tax bill and set up a direct debit.

I have just had a text from my letting agent asking if I am ok for her to pass on my details to the landlord as he wants to continue paying it and have me pay him instead each month. Is this normal practice? I would rather pay it myself so I know it is being paid but have offered to send him receipts each month as I know the previous tenant has disappeared without paying for several bills.

Its just not something I was aware of and not really heard of before? So I dont know whether I am being to overly suspicious....

Thanks in advance

anselld

Not normal unless it is a live-in landlord or a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), ie several occupiers sharing facilities.

Otherwise you are liable and you pay council tax.

LL is probably trying to evade council tax elsewhere by claiming your address as his main residence.

Werdnal

Sounds like the LL might not want to register themselves as living elsewhere, or you to register as living at the property. Possibly LL hasn't got consent to let, or is fiddling their tax on your rent so doesn't want to leave any eivdence that they are letting to you.

Council tax is your responsibility and I would politely tell the LL that you have already registered to pay it, and leave it at that. If you pay the LL, you will have no proof that they are infact passing the money on to the council anyway.

I don't think there is any law that states the LL can insist on this method of payment, so they cannot force you to do this. I am surprised the agents are condoning it, but then agents are a law unto themselves anyway!

Do you have any suspicions about anything else that the LL has done? Did you have a wirrten check-in inventory? Is your deposit protected? Were you shown/given a copy of gas safety certificate and/or EPC? Have you asked whether the LL has consent to let?

klolav

I'm guessing you would like to be on the electoral role too?
If this is the case it needs to be in your name, and you can claim tax reduction due to single occupancy.
I would rather it be in my name and continue to make sure it is paid etc.

brit1234

Possibly a mortgage swindle like the others saying. The property may be on residential mortgage rather than buy to let/consent to let. By you paying council tax rather than him it would expose him if checks were done.

val_84

Thanks everyone. It isnt multiple occupancy or anything. Just me and landlord lives in London as far as im aware.

My deposit should be in a scheme but i havent had the paperwork yet. Only moved in 28th September though so not sure how long it normally takes.

My council tax for the next few months is coming in at about £175 so I would feel much more confident if I was paying it myself. As it also helps me keep track of everything. I dont like having to rely on anyone else for paying bills!

jrawle

klolav wrote: »

I'm guessing you would like to be on the electoral role too?
If this is the case it needs to be in your name, and you can claim tax reduction due to single occupancy.

There is usually no link between paying council tax and being on the electoral register. The electoral form comes and you have to fill it in. Councils don't cross-reference this with council tax data, not least because some people don't have to pay council tax (e.g. students) and others pay tax but can't vote (foreign citizens). I once had an issue with claiming a discount, and asked the council why they didn't already know who lived there from the electoral roll. They told me they simply don't do that.

None of this changes the answer to the OP, though: you should pay the council tax yourself.

theartfullodger

Yeah, landlord is either stupid (not good), ignorant (ditto) or on fiddle (ditto). You are quite right to be suspicious!!!

Might be worth checking everything else is OK - Land registry shows him as owner?? (£4),
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/

you have a current gas safety cert if you've gas, ideally ask him to show you his landlord insurance (buildings & his contents..).

Yup, in your shoes I'd pay council tax, keep all receipts and paperwork & decline LL's kind offer .. If he whines & shouts post here again...

The agent really should know better (and probably does...).

Hope it all works out & you find a better partner (I'm taken... )

Cheers!

Artful

mikthe20

Just tell the agent it's too late and council already have your direct debit details.

Cheeky_Monkey

jrawle wrote: »

There is usually no link between paying council tax and being on the electoral register. The electoral form comes and you have to fill it in. Councils don't cross-reference this with council tax data, not least because some people don't have to pay council tax (e.g. students) and others pay tax but can't vote (foreign citizens). I once had an issue with claiming a discount, and asked the council why they didn't already know who lived there from the electoral roll. They told me they simply don't do that.

None of this changes the answer to the OP, though: you should pay the council tax yourself.

That is most definitely not true where I live. When my daughter moved out, I claimed single occupier discount. The council wrote to me sometime after saying that they had compared records with the electoral register and asking if my daughter had moved back in as I hadn't crossed her name off.

CIS

Its just not something I was aware of and not really heard of before? So I dont know whether I am being to overly suspicious....

My advice - dont do it unless the landlord is the one actually responsible for the Council Tax e.g either they are resident or the property is an HMO.

I've seen many similar cases where further down the line the landlord hasn't paid, the council chase him and he provides the tenancy agreements. The council tax charge then has to be corrected, the tenant gets a bill and end up having to pay twice - once, correctly, to the council and once, wrongly, to the landlord.

There is usually no link between paying council tax and being on the electoral register. The electoral form comes and you have to fill it in. Councils don't cross-reference this with council tax data

As a rule the date isn't cross-referenced but its becoming more common in order to combat fraud.