Council Tax for property I no longer own!!!

DaveW007

Sorry if this is the wrong section for this.

I am at my wits end and am having countless sleepless nights over this.

I really don't know who to go to for help and advice.

Back in January 2011 I put my house on the market and moved back to my home town staying with my parents until my house sold. My house was elsewhere in the Country.

My house was left unoccupied and unfurnished as I had moved everything back to my parents.

My local council insisted I would still be liable for council tax even though I wasn't living there or benefiting in any way shape or form from the services.

I queried this time and time again and each time was assured that this is correct and I have to continue to pay. Reluctantly I kept doing so.

Eventually I was advised that there had been an error and I should have not paid as I wasn't living at my house. I have tried without success to get a refund on the council tax paid to no avail.

Once my house sold which was November 2011 I notified the council who stated that they need to send an inspector to make sure it is unoccupied and unfurnished! I advised that the new owners would be in now.

The council have now flatly refused to refund any council tax as I wouldn't let an inspector inspect it. First I knew of an inspector was after I had sold it. I did advise that if they had said about this whilst I had owned the property I would have willingly met with an inspector to prove that my house was unoccupied and unfurnished.

Now to rub more salt into the wounds the council want me to pay yet more council tax and I don't even own the property.

What do I do? Where can I go from here?

I can't get a straight answer from the council and there is a distinct lack of any common sense.

anselld

It is difficult if not impossible to claim an exemption for empty unfurnished after the fact - for the reason you have stated, ie difficult to verify.

Do you have any evidence that you claimed exemption at the time? If so then use this as the basis of complaint / appeal. If not then I think you will be stuck unless you can prove you were paying council tax elesewhere at the time.

Why have they claimed more if you have already paid for the period up till sale?

DaveW007

anselld wrote: »

It is difficult if not impossible to claim an exemption for empty unfurnished after the fact - for the reason you have stated, ie difficult to verify.


Do you have any evidence that you claimed exemption at the time? If so then use this as the basis of complaint / appeal. If not then I think you will be stuck unless you can prove you were paying council tax elesewhere at the time.

Why have they claimed more if you have already paid for the period up till sale?

The council did initially state that they had made an error and I shouldn't have been paying as it was unoccupied and unfurnished. I would have been more than willing to have shown my previous property to an inspector. They didn't request this until after it had been sold.

When I spoke to them last about having to pay more it is because that their computer calculates to the year end. I did ask if the new owner would start paying from the start of the new tax year but they wouldn't discuss that with me as it is against the DPA!

This is what I am dealing with. :mad:

anselld

Did you request an exemption in writing?

DaveW007 wrote: »

The council did initially state that they had made an error

Did they do this in writing?

DaveW007 wrote: »

When I spoke to them last about having to pay more it is because that their computer calculates to the year end.

This is wrong! Council Tax liability is calculated by the day. Yours stopped when you informed them (hopefully in writing) that you are no longer the owner.

It sounds like you need to register a fromal complaint explaining all this. Best to stop talking and start writing.

Brallaqueen

I would write a long complaint to the Council Tax department with copied of hard evicence that you were no longer living at the property (bills/bank statements/electoral roll at another address, any emails/phone calls you made, anything from your solicitor regarding completion of your sale).

Keep copies and get a free certificate of posting to prove in case it 'gets lost in the post'.

GDB2222

The council seem to be making an awful mess out of this. 1st of all, lodge a formal complaint, so this gets looked at by someone a bit more senior. At my local council, you can keep escalating the complaint until it gets to the senior executive, and if you are still dissatisfied you can take it to the Local Government Ombudsman.

2nd, you need to know your rights. At one time, you were entitled to 6 months free of council tax if a property was unoccupied and unfurnished. I am not sure if that still applies. After the 6 months is up, you have to pay 90% of the full council tax. As others have said, council tax liability ended when you sold the property.

3rd, whether the property was unoccupied and unfurnished is a matter of fact. It seems to me that you have no end of witnesses. For example, you have the estate agent, and then you have all the people who viewed the property (and the estate agent will have a list of those), and of course you have the people who bought from you. Unless there is something specifically in the legislation to say that you are only entitled to the exemption if the council have viewed the property themselves, in which case you should ask them for exact paragraph numbers in the statutes, you should be home and dry.

Finally, if you originally made the claim for exemption and they ignored it, their failure to send an inspector is maladministration. Throughout any council complaint, the keyword to use is maladministration. This really gets them worried. Ultimately, if it goes to the local government ombudsman and he finds in your favour, the whole matter is then made public on a no names basis, which upsets the council no end. In practice, I suspect this will be sorted out amicably once you get it escalated to a sensible level. I recently had a run-in with my local council, and my complaint ran into several thousand pounds. I was turned down at each of the 1st 2 stages of the complaints process, but my complaint was upheld by the Chief Executive. So, my experience is that it works in the end!

MissPaddy

As far as I'm aware you can get a discount for a house that is unoccupied but not an exemption. The only way you can get an exemption is if the house is inhabitable i.e. you're having major renovations done. Even then it is for a maximum of 12 months and (as I discovered to my expense) if the previous owner has already claimed an exemption in the recent past, you can't claim another one.

anselld

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037422

Exemptions and empty homes

There are limits on how long empty homes won't be charged Council Tax:

• unfurnished homes where no one lives are exempt for up to six months
• homes undergoing major repair work or structural changes (eg rebuilding walls and floors) are exempt for up to 12 months
• homes where the owner has died are exempt for up to six months after probate is granted (your legal right to sell the home)

GDB2222

as always, Google is your friend. http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/ldg/ctax-discount#unoccupied

"If your property is empty and unfurnished, the full council tax is payable once the 6-month exemption period has expired"

So, provided the property really was unfurnished, you did not need to pay council tax from the date that you moved out until 6 months later. After that, you needed to pay either 90% or 100% of the full rate but that would only be for a couple of months until you sold in November.

ognum

MissPaddy wrote: »

As far as I'm aware you can get a discount for a house that is unoccupied but not an exemption. The only way you can get an exemption is if the house is inhabitable i.e. you're having major renovations done. Even then it is for a maximum of 12 months and (as I discovered to my expense) if the previous owner has already claimed an exemption in the recent past, you can't claim another one.

This advice is wrong!

In the last 4 years I have had 3 exemptions on 3 different properties. All habitable but empty of furniture.

first was a house we bought needed some work but was habitable, we choose to live elsewhere while it was done.

Second exemption was a flat I was selling, removed the furniture got 6 months exemption.

Third exemption was my mothers home I inherited, exempt with furniture in until probate, remains exempt while in her name until 1 year has gone.

You should be able to claim 6 months exemption if house has not furniture in.

angelsmomma

ognum wrote: »

This advice is wrong!

In the last 4 years I have had 3 exemptions on 3 different properties. All habitable but empty of furniture.

first was a house we bought needed some work but was habitable, we choose to live elsewhere while it was done.

Second exemption was a flat I was selling, removed the furniture got 6 months exemption.

Third exemption was my mothers home I inherited, exempt with furniture in until probate, remains exempt while in her name until 1 year has gone.

You should be able to claim 6 months exemption if house has not furniture in.

That may be so in your case but as Miss Paddy said if the previous owner has used the six months you don't get it.

The council told me it was on the house not the owner so I had to pay because the property I bought last October had been empty since the March.