Council tax exemption

noiseboymart

To cut a long story short the house next door to me was reposessed.Shortly afterwards it suffered a burst pipe in the loft that did quite a bit of damage.6 months later still unoccupied it came on the market and i decided to but it to renovate and then rent out (the previous owners had gutted it including all the kitchen units work tops etc)Checked it was same council tax band as mine all ok.Whilst i got started on the work tried to get 6 month unoccupied dwelling discount and was told the couldnt run one after another (obviously i didnt know the bank had done this i couldnt find out till i owned it. I am trying to get the 12 month major work discount now but i think this is unlikely.Is there anything i can do.

anselld

If that fails then you can find out how long you need to pay for in order to qualify for another 6 months. It may only be a few months.

Or find a student to move in rent free.

chappers

If the property is un-inhabitable you should be applying to have the property temporarily removed from the council tax register , not an unoccupied exemption.

lincroft1710

chappers wrote: »

If the property is un-inhabitable you should be applying to have the property temporarily removed from the council tax register , not an unoccupied exemption.

This is not as easy as it seems.

In CT law there is is no definition of uninhabitable. I've dealt with many of these cases and there had to be something quite major before a dwelling would be removed from the Valuation List. Removing kitchen units would not be sufficient.

OP if you can post exactly what the situation is at present, I'll let you know what I think.

jamie11

Sorry to butt in, I'm in the same situation, I've just had a tenant die and I now need to do a major refurb. on the place, re-wire, new bathroom , new kitchen etc etc. I've been advised to ask for a 12m exemption but how far do you have to go to have the property removed altogether from CT?

CIS

I've been advised to ask for a 12m exemption but how far do you have to go to have the property removed altogether from CT?

Pretty much a complete wreck - no roof, structually unsafe etc etc.

I've just had a tenant die and I now need to do a major refurb. on the place, re-wire, new bathroom , new kitchen etc etc.

Re-wiring, installing a new kitchen/bathroon etc wouldn't count as major structual works.

What you would need to apply for would be a 6 months Class C exemption on the basis of it being unoccupied and unfurnished.

chappers

CIS wrote: »

Pretty much a complete wreck - no roof, structually unsafe etc etc.



Re-wiring, installing a new kitchen/bathroon etc wouldn't count as major structual works.

What you would need to apply for would be a 6 months Class C exemption on the basis of it being unoccupied and unfurnished.

I beg to differ I have developed several properties and having no serviceable electrics, kitchens, bathrooms etc has always been sufficient when combined with the property being un-occupied.
If the property is truly gutted there should be no reason not to have the property temporarily removed from the CT register.

noiseboymart

In my case apparently I am not allowed a class c exemption because it had one up until the point that I bought it and class c ,s cannot run back to back.

I have just had a ct bill for next year at the full band A rate with a note on the bottom to say that I still owe over £500 on last years bill even though I have applied for a class A exemption and have previously asked for class C.is there no communication in the relevant departments

pinkshoes

I think if it's occupied for 6 weeks, you can then claim another 6 months exemption.

lincroft1710

chappers wrote: »

I beg to differ I have developed several properties and having no serviceable electrics, kitchens, bathrooms etc has always been sufficient when combined with the property being un-occupied.
If the property is truly gutted there should be no reason not to have the property temporarily removed from the CT register.

It is literally each case on its merits. Being ex VOA, I know that it can also depend on the interpretation of uninhabitable by the caseworker involved. CIS' interpretation is fairly inline with my own.

chappers

lincroft1710 wrote: »

It is literally each case on its merits. Being ex VOA, I know that it can also depend on the interpretation of uninhabitable by the caseworker involved. CIS' interpretation is fairly inline with my own.

I totally agree that it is on acase by case basis just giving my experience of what would be classed as uninhabitable and would also like to add that the length of time of the project would have some bearing. you wouldn't for example be granted total exemption for any of the things I mentioned in isolation, but combined as part of a major refurb you would.

As an aside being ex VOA have you any idea how long it takes to re-band a property. Basically I have recently developed a single property into 3 and they were initially banded, but somewhere along the line the local council allocated the wrong bands to the properties, due to a confusion over which plots were which. so far I have been waiting 5 weeks and it still hasn't been done, and i have a sale waiting on this. Surely 5 weeks to rectify a clerical error is ridiculous, I have tried to escalate this without success.

Cheers
gareth