Council Tax included in Rent

j28_2

Hi,

Myself and some friends (all full-time students) are in the process of acquiring tenancy of a flat.

We were told initially that the rent included water and nothing else HOWEVER when we were sent the first draft of the tenancy agreement the estate agent stated "council tax and water are included in the rent".

This was surprising as we were under the impression (and still are having checked directgov and local council website) that it is the responsibility of the tenants to pay council tax. (We have even noticed having checked the application form we signed initially, it states we are responsible for council tax).

I tried explaining to the estate agent that we are exempt from council tax as full-time students and would be happy to take responsibility for paying it instead of the landlord on our behalf but she has simply taken a can't be bothered approach and said the landlord has set the rent as £xxx and stated it includes council tax and water, you were told that when you payed the holding fee (which we weren't!!), it's non-negotiable.

Even after explaining over the phone that we are not trying to pay the landlord less we are trying to avoid him and ourselves paying unnecessary council tax that is free while we are living there she simply said they don't care who's living there and what the council tax is they've already decided to pay it. (what she means is SHE doesn't care).

This seems completely unfair to us, particularly seeing as this estate agent is signed up to two different customer service assurance schemes which they seem to be ignoring in terms of giving us any help with the property in other respects.

What can we do? Is it possible to contact the landlord independently once we have moved in? Could we contact the local council and explain the situation?

Any help or legal advice would be amazing thank you!

agrinnall

This would be better on another board, either Housing or Cutting Tax, as it's more likely to be seen by an expert on rent/CT issues there.

In my non-expert view you are correct that the tenant(s) are responsible for CT, unless the property is being let as a HMO, which doesn't appear to be the case here. Even if it says in the TA that the rent includes CT, if the LL doesn't actually hand it over to the council it will be you, as occupiers, who will be the first port of call for the council.

If the property is occupied by students who are all CT exempt then there is nothing to pay. I would check what the CT amount for the property is (you should be able to do this on the council's website) and subtract that amount from the rent you have been quoted - informing the LA and LL in writing that you are doing so - and register yourself with the council, providing them with the necessary proof of exemption.

00ec25

j28 wrote: »

We were told initially that the rent included water and nothing else

so at the time you decided to go for this property you were fully aware of the bottom line cost of the rent, and presumably were happy to pay that amount

j28 wrote: »

Even after explaining over the phone that we are not trying to pay the landlord less we are trying to avoid him and ourselves paying unnecessary council tax that is free

As Agrinnall says assuming this is not an HMO then you are correct in that the tenant not the LL is liable, however, your arguement is somewhat flawed since you are very obviously trying to pay less than the rent figure so why should they give you a discount on a figure you have previously agreed to

nimbo

j28 wrote: »

Hi,

Myself and some friends (all full-time students) are in the process of acquiring tenancy of a flat.

We were told initially that the rent included water and nothing else HOWEVER when we were sent the first draft of the tenancy agreement the estate agent stated "council tax and water are included in the rent".

This was surprising as we were under the impression (and still are having checked directgov and local council website) that it is the responsibility of the tenants to pay council tax. (We have even noticed having checked the application form we signed initially, it states we are responsible for council tax).

I tried explaining to the estate agent that we are exempt from council tax as full-time students and would be happy to take responsibility for paying it instead of the landlord on our behalf but she has simply taken a can't be bothered approach and said the landlord has set the rent as £xxx and stated it includes council tax and water, you were told that when you payed the holding fee (which we weren't!!), it's non-negotiable.

Even after explaining over the phone that we are not trying to pay the landlord less we are trying to avoid him and ourselves paying unnecessary council tax that is free while we are living there she simply said they don't care who's living there and what the council tax is they've already decided to pay it. (what she means is SHE doesn't care).

This seems completely unfair to us, particularly seeing as this estate agent is signed up to two different customer service assurance schemes which they seem to be ignoring in terms of giving us any help with the property in other respects.

What can we do? Is it possible to contact the landlord independently once we have moved in? Could we contact the local council and explain the situation?

Any help or legal advice would be amazing thank you!

when you move into the property, and register at uni in September MAKE SURE you ALL send in the registration document from the uni that will exempt you from paying council tax to the council.

Ensure they have all been received a few weeks later. we were told that our rental agreement covered EVERYTHING except TV liscene, and only some of us sent the forms to the council. years later we all got letters for a massive bill, as it was a huge 10 bed house that used to be a small hotel, and the people who had not sent the exemptions found it really difficult to lay their hands on the relevant documentation to prove they had been students. And we all would have been liable for the whole bill...

the agent may think the council tax is being covered, they may well have been wrong, and now just do not want to go back on what they have said and admit they made a mistake. The landlord won't be paying the council tax unless they're on some kind of tax fiddle not wanting to admit tat the property is actually inhabited as you have to pay for second properties.

It may be a hassle sending in all of the documents but cover your own asses. (When they gave ours out they were bright red or yellow depending on the day you registered so when students got letters demanding payment of council tax the admin staff told them to look for the bright red or yellow form they were given!!!!!)

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

hallowitch

Myself and some friends

is the house defined as a house HMO , house of multiple occupancy

if it is then your landlord is responsible for the council tax all councils should be the same
http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/housing/houses-multiple-occupation/houses-multiple-occupancy#

melancholly

My money is on this being an HMO or a LL who is still registered as living there....hopefully number one!

It's probably also as much to do with the LA using a standard form form for all tenants. So it mentions council tax for everyone. Since the original discussion quoted rent as including only water, there's no increase and so no deceit really. They aren't going to cut rent.

Petlamb

BUT if it is a HMO then the LL should be aware of the fact students don't pay CT and used to dealing with exemptions?

It makes no sense as surely the LL is just robbing themselves if they do pay the CT for the tenants? Operative word of course being IF.

the-mango

The only person losing out here is the landlord. OP just makes sure everyone registers for council tax exemption so there's no backlash in the future and if teh landlord decides to pay for council tax well then that's their loss as Vampiric Addiction said

agrinnall

the-mango wrote: »

The only person losing out here is the landlord. OP just makes sure everyone registers for council tax exemption so there's no backlash in the future and if teh landlord decides to pay for council tax well then that's their loss as Vampiric Addiction said

I don't agree, I think the OP and fellow house mates are losing out, as the tenancy agreement says they are paying CT as part of the rent. In fact, the LL may be gaining by it if he decides not to hand over the CT portion of the rent to the council.

the-mango

agrinnall wrote: »

I don't agree, I think the OP and fellow house mates are losing out, as the tenancy agreement says they are paying CT as part of the rent. In fact, the LL may be gaining by it if he decides not to hand over the CT portion of the rent to the council.

Ah yes, I agree but they were never going to get this part of it anyway because as initially they thought rent only covered water, so they're no worse off as such.