Daydream thread continues.....

rozeepozee

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

We have the council coming out on the 10th May..

We told them that we just bought the house at auction... the previous owners told them they had left the furniture for us, so they thought we were living there:eek:

We told them it is not habbitable, so they told us they need to come to make sure there is NO furniture in the house.. they know where we are actually live...

If i were you Rozee, is phone them back, and tell them it is NOT your second home, and that you are renting somewhere until the work on the house is done...they will need to come out and check..

We already have the exemption for it being empty and unfurnished, CTC. That's the first six months. After that, they'll give you a maximum of 12 months (i.e. another 6 months, which takes us to December) if you're planning major works. After that... you have to pay 50% of the council tax but our place will still be uninhabitable by then if the works aren't finished - which they're unlikely to be it seems (see later) so we have to get it taken out of the ratings system for council tax rates if we are to avoid paying half council tax.

I may have asked you this before, but how long has your place been empty for? If over two years and you employ a contractor to do certain building works, he may be able to charge you VAT at only 5% instead of 20% and if it's been empty for over 10 years, you may not have to pay VAT at all. PM me if you want any more info.

lostinrates

rozeepozee wrote: »

Hi, has anyone got any experience of decommissioning for council tax rating purposes. There's so much bureaucracy! It's not looking too positive. They are saying that if the house is watertight and has a roof it is unlikely to be taken out of the council tax rating system and we'll have to pay 50% council tax on it as our second home even though it's uninhabitable without at least £10k spent on rewiring as the electrics have been condemned and major refurbishments will take place before it is brought up to modern standards - But they won't give me any advice on where I need to look for the criteria for whether or not we qualify until I submit an appeal... That's Open Government for you, eh?

No experience whatso ever, but i wonder if it relates to the mortgageable habitation requirements, plumbed in sink and wired in cooker. These were in some of our mortage information packs and my oarents were astounded and said they would never have been able to buy with such restrictions.


I have been ill today (booo) and dh was home becuase the train station was cut off from us by a flood, so we went roound a long way to be told there was a bus replacement service. As it turned out it was good as dh was able to potter round while i slept, and the animals did not go without.

rozeepozee

Itismehonest wrote: »

Yes, rozee, I have more than enough experience for one lifetime of CT things but things are changing & much of it is already at the discretion of the Local Authority. What each Authority allows seems to differ.
It was because of experience that I was warning about looking into what local councils consider annexes etc.

In our case to totally remove properties from CT it was necessary to take away the cooker point (in fact we removed all the kitchen & left empty rooms) & the toilets. Of course, there can be no furniture or anything left inside which might make it habitable as far as cooking, washing, sleeping .....
Someone then came round, inspected them & deemed them uninhabitable. It is their definition of uninhabitable that counts.

On the remaining cottage we have to pay 90% CT as a 2nd home even though it is within our boundary, relies on water & electricity from the house, doesn't exist as a separate address, doesn't even get a refuse collection, & is not allowed to be permanently lived in (in fact for no longer than 2 weeks at a time) by Planning.

Should we wish we could empty the cottage of furniture & then get 6 months as an empty property but, after that, we would be charged at 100%.

And they say they need properties for use for local youngsters :mad:

It is a little frustrating Itsme, to say the least. I did my research on the VAT thing but the first person I spoke to was less than helpful. He seemed to treat me as a tax evader rather than someone who was enquiring about my potential tax laibility. The second person was much more helpful.

On the council tax thing, I'm amazed that they can refuse to divulge the criteria by which your property may or may not be liable. I'm a lawyer... Local Government can surely not be so arbitrary! Obviously if I was wealthy enough to afford a specialist tax accountant, I would be able to pay for private advice about how to proceed to reduce my tax costs. Of course, we're all in this together :cool:

On balance, I prefer the 5% VAT rating to the removal from the council tax rating. If we start building in March 2013, I'd hope we will be living there within 6 months, so we'd only be paying 50% council tax for 9 months....

COOLTRIKERCHICK

LIR..... sorry you have been ill today.... hope the sleep helped...

Rozee yes i had heard something about the 5% vat thing... the house has been empty for about 1 year, no longer....

Now i know this might seem a bit ott, but is the house in one or joint names?
If it is in one name, could you then put it in your oh name? aS IN THEORY:D It has a new owner...... which then might get you another year's free council tax, or isnt it as simple as that? if it is, then you have only got the cost of change the deeds over, which i am sure would be far less than the council tax....

COOLTRIKERCHICK

here is a pic of my goglins:D excuse the stuff in the back ground burning pile.

They are now coming on in leaps and bounds, and flip they cant half eat....

You can see where they have lost their down on their hind quarters.

lostinrates

Just been out to see critters for first time since this morning. Cotton eye jojo is broody. I don't have any egg to give her. Poor little girl.

lostinrates

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

here is a pic of my goglins:D excuse the stuff in the back ground burning pile.

They are now coming on in leaps and bounds, and flip they cant half eat....

You can see where they have lost their down on their hind quarters.

Oh, how cute!!

alfie_1

lostinrates wrote: »

Hey, calling alfie removal's! We won it! Hahahaha. So, flea market better not be cancelled. What time do you reckon you will be here, the seller wants me to give him a time to collect it!

I was starting to look for polished gem stones to stick on other furniture thinking we would not get it, we were the only bidder!

:T:T:T ANYTIME REALLY ..EARLY AS YOU LIKE THEN WE CAN GET OFF TO "BARGAIN LAND"....:D

iv checked measurements and it will fit in my van so wont get wet/damaged...:D

even if no BL on, i can still come up for day if ok just to help out a bit??:)

lostinrates

alfie_1 wrote: »

:T:T:T ANYTIME REALLY ..EARLY AS YOU LIKE THEN WE CAN GET OFF TO "BARGAIN LAND"....:D

iv checked measurements and it will fit in my van so wont get wet/damaged...:D

even if no BL on, i can still come up for day if ok just to help out a bit??:)

Brilliant! I am pretty sure the indoor bit at least will still be on in any case.

alfie_1

lostinrates wrote: »

Just been out to see critters for first time since this morning. Cotton eye jojo is broody. I don't have any egg to give her. Poor little girl.

if she stays broody i can give you some eggs for her to sit on ...related x to yours at L's

i will have done 2 airport and 1 docks [cruise] run this week :eek:
and the calls keep coming...:o cant say no really.. unless i dont like the person..;)