Council Tax on Inherited Empty Property (For Sale)

pinkshoes

They have high CT after 6 months vacant as councils, particularly those with housing shortages, do now want vacant properties!

I had to pay at 90% CT on my vacant flat in Oxford as there was a delay in the sale going through.

Why not post a link to the property on here and let people have a look and give you some honest and constructive criticism on why they think it's not selling.

How much interest has it had in the 6 months since it's been on the market?

Al2012

p00hsticks wrote: »

Do the maths - it's now costing you £250 a month in council tax, plus insurance (I assume that you have it insured and the insurer know the property is empty ? ) plus utility bills unless you have had everything turned off.

If you can't afford to meet the bills to keep the property as it is, then I think you really only have two options - either reduce the price to get it to sell or rent it out.

Thanks very much.

Everything's turned off and on tariffs with no standing charges so negligible costs with these.

I'm beginning to think that renting it out is going to be my only solution with this for now. At least the income might give me a way to clear the arrears though will have to happen quick as the council have said they won't negotiate on payment or terms. Pay up in full or go to court.

I've offered to settle the bill out of the sale of the house but this isn't acceptable either apparently.

Al2012

dancingfairy wrote: »

You are looking at the following here:
1)Council tax due until April
2) Liability Order fees 80 pounds
3) potentially 42.50 of bailiff fees. Hopefully you can stop it at point 1 or 2 though.

4) if you let the bailiffs in then you are looking at a lot more on top. Do not let it get to this stage.

If this situation carries on into next tax year then obviously the cycle will repeat and you may end up getting liability order costs and more bailiff fees again so you really need to do everything you can to get this property sold/rented.
df

Thanks very much for all the detail.

I've always kept my house (no pun intended) in order so the last thing I want is the Bailiffs at my door. Arrears aside, ongoing if I must pay in full it would be interesting to see where the Bailiffs would go if I put the address as my home and said I had moved out of the family home. I'd like to see the dreaded B's try to repossess something out of an empty house! I've also realised I could at least reduce the bill by 25% at the same time too if I did this, which is why I think the whole situation is bonkers.

Really wanting to play this straight down the line though but there seems to be no flexibility whatever.

I know ignorance is no excuse but it would have helped if the council had explained the situation properly at the outset when I called to explain the situation. They said no CT was due and there was no mention of this 6 months as there is no way I would have let it come to this.

Al2012

pinkshoes wrote: »

They have high CT after 6 months vacant as councils, particularly those with housing shortages, do now want vacant properties!

I had to pay at 90% CT on my vacant flat in Oxford as there was a delay in the sale going through.

Why not post a link to the property on here and let people have a look and give you some honest and constructive criticism on why they think it's not selling.

How much interest has it had in the 6 months since it's been on the market?

Thanks very much.

I've had no firm offers, two buy to letters have expressed an interest at about 50% of the asking price but it would seem ridiculous to sell a property at £40k less than the asking price to settle a £1k bill?

As mentioned further up I get that in some areas housing is in short supply. If I was asking a ridiculous price or not put it on the market waiting for things to improve then fine that would be my choice but I'm doing all that I consider reasonable to make a quick sale and can only be guided by other local prices and dropping 10% lower?

CIS

To clarify the exemptions (in a simplistic way):

Class A- properties undergoing or requiring major or structural works (max 12 months)
Class C -unoccupied and unfurnished properties (max 6 months)
Class F - property for which probate hasn't be granted or up to 6 months from when probate was granted (or until the property has been sold or transferred to another party)
Class K - a property previously occupied by a student ( not applicable here)
Class J - a property left by a person going to provide care (not applicable here).

What was actually happening with the property in regards of the works needed on it ?

Al2012

CIS wrote: »

To clarify the exemptions (in a simplistic way):

Class A- properties undergoing or requiring major or structural works (max 12 months)
Class C -unoccupied and unfurnished properties (max 6 months)
Class F - property for which probate hasn't be granted or up to 6 months from when probate was granted (or until the property has been sold or transferred to another party)
Class K - a property previously occupied by a student ( not applicable here)
Class J - a property left by a person going to provide care (not applicable here).

What was actually happening with the property in regards of the works needed on it ?

Thanks CIS.

Nothing structural fortunately or unfortunately. Magnoliard and glossed throughout, cheap neutral carpets, new kitchen cupboard doors and bathroom suite, couple of new windows, general bits and pieces.

Some roof slates were replaced and repointed as well because the roof was leaking but was told by the council that this didn't count, in their words it would pretty much have to be without a roof to qualify under A!

As for F as I acted as Executor for my Dad's estate I do wish in hindsight that I hadn't signed the property into my own name. From what you say above I may only have got the same 6 months but being unable to pay I would feel less exposed now if it was still under Executor rather than me personally even if one and the same. Pretty sure that would quickly become a legal minefield all on its own anyway though. It may of forced a sale at any price but at least I wouldn't be worried about Bailiffs.

getmore4less

You get probate +6 months so there is plenty of time to market the property ready for probate which can be delayed a long time if the propert is the main estate.

If a place does not sell it is overpriced

if BTL are coming in at £40k below asking you have to ask is it worth renting out to cover all the bills fo 6month/year.

Remember if you rent/occupy for a preriod you get another 6 month.

Al2012

getmore4less wrote: »

You get probate +6 months so there is plenty of time to market the property ready for probate which can be delayed a long time if the propert is the main estate.

If a place does not sell it is overpriced

if BTL are coming in at £40k below asking you have to ask is it worth renting out to cover all the bills fo 6month/year.

Remember if you rent/occupy for a preriod you get another 6 month.

Probate was granted and the Deeds transferred last Decemeber which is where they get May from. That was Probate plus 6 months. Again, hindsight and a bit of knowledge are wonderful things!

Regards the last point, how long a period do you have to rent/occupy for before the clock is reset so to speak and the 6 month exemption under C reapplys if the property were to become empty again?

lincroft1710

Al2012 wrote: »

Everything's turned off

It's actually a good idea to leave the heating on low, prevents damp and pipes freezing.

As others have said, reduce the price further and get rid of the place.

Better_Days

I do sympathise, when my Dad passed away there was lots to sort out on his flat and various bills to pay. I was lucky enough to have savings to pay the bills straight away, but the amounts do add up and it is not the sort of thing you can budget for.

We also had to sort out the flat to make it saleable, which took nearly 6 months, then it took ages to sell, for exactly the amount the EA thought it would fetch. The problem was that the market for one bed ex-council first floor flats isn't what you would call buoyant!

Not something I would usually suggest, but could you pay the bill on your credit card, make the minimum payments and pay the balance when the house is sold, along with the interest charged by the CC company.

This is not the time to worry about your children's inheritance. Why not get some more EA's round to give their thoughts on valuations, I would recommend that you try some of the local independents, but don't tell them what other EA's have valued at! Also have you had a look at the local sold prices for comparable properties? This would give you an idea of how realistic the AP is.