council tax exemption?

CIS

you will have to pay full council tax from the day you exchange contracts if your property is classed as "habitable"

As Lincroft has advised there is no definition in council tax of habitable - habitable would be relative to the person and is often a reason for discussion between tax payers and the council - any argument is for a valuation tribunal to decide.

CIS

The regulations have been amended and the Class A exemption no longer exists from 1 April 13 - it has been replaced with the Class D discount (although the criteria haven't changed most councils no longer give a 100% reduction):

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2964/regulation/2/made#text%3D%22council%20tax%22%20and%20%22habitable%22

“Class D
8. The class of dwellings described in this regulation (“Class D”) comprises every chargeable dwelling in England—
(a)which satisfies the requirement set out in paragraph (b) unless it has been such a dwelling for a continuous period of twelve months or more ending immediately before the day in question;
(b)the requirement referred to in paragraph (a) is that the dwelling is vacant and—
(i)requires or is undergoing major repair work to render it habitable, or
(ii)is undergoing structural alteration; or
(iii)has undergone major repair work to render it habitable, if less than six months have elapsed since the date on which the alteration was substantially completed and the dwelling has continuously remained vacant since that date;
(c)for the purposes of paragraph (b) above “major repair work” includes structural repair work.

K.Tarshes

tim123456789 wrote: »

if a house is completely uninhabitable it will not have a CT rating and will continue to be CT exempt.

Otherwise, yes, you have N months to do it up and sell on (where N depends upon the whim of your council)

tim

Are you sure? I understand it things have changed from April 2013, and now ALL derelict properties all around the country will start having council tax bills sent to whoever is on land registry.

K.Tarshes

CIS wrote: »

The regulations have been amended and the Class A exemption no longer exists from 1 April 13 - it has been replaced with the Class D discount (although the criteria haven't changed most councils no longer give a 100% reduction):

“Class D
8. The class of dwellings described in this regulation (“Class D”) comprises every chargeable dwelling in England—
(a)which satisfies the requirement set out in paragraph (b) unless it has been such a dwelling for a continuous period of twelve months or more ending immediately before the day in question;
(b)the requirement referred to in paragraph (a) is that the dwelling is vacant and—
(i)requires or is undergoing major repair work to render it habitable, or
(ii)is undergoing structural alteration; or
(iii)has undergone major repair work to render it habitable, if less than six months have elapsed since the date on which the alteration was substantially completed and the dwelling has continuously remained vacant since that date;
(c)for the purposes of paragraph (b) above “major repair work” includes structural repair work.
--

Please forgive me I still do not understand. Is it true that ALL derelict properties will not be exempt after the change from April 2013?

What about a 'property' that has been derelict for decades or even 100's of years? What about some old place with just a few walls up no roof? Or some old places with not much more than the foundations and just a part of a wall or 2 but covered with decades of weeds?

tim123456789

K.Tarshes wrote: »

Are you sure? I understand it things have changed from April 2013, and now ALL derelict properties all around the country will start having council tax bills sent to whoever is on land registry.

yes I'm sure

Remember, by absolutely derelict we're talking "pile of bricks in middle of field" (that's only been left there as a precedent for a planning app)

tim

K.Tarshes

tim123456789 wrote: »

yes I'm sure

Remember, by absolutely derelict we're talking "pile of bricks in middle of field" (that's only been left there as a precedent for a planning app)

tim

So you are talking about class D now that the Class A exemption no longer exists from 1 April 13 - it has been replaced with the Class D discount.

At what point between a pile of old bricks to an empty old house I wonder?

For example class 2 listed building that has been derelict for over a decade now but was not allowed to be demolished because its an historic building?

lincroft1710

K.Tarshes wrote: »

At what point between a pile of old bricks to an empty old house I wonder?

For example class 2 listed building that has been derelict for over a decade now but was not allowed to be demolished because its an historic building?

If such a dwelling still has a CT band then the owner can apply to the VOA to have the band removed, there is no 6 month time limit on this type of application. The VOA may or may not agree and the case can be determined by the Valuation Tribunal.

One downside is that once the dwelling is deemed fit for re-assessment for CT it may perfectly legally end up with a higher CT band than previously.

The council are obliged to bill the occupier of if unoccupied, the owner of any dwelling in its area which has a CT band, subject to any reliefs or exemptions which may apply.

dimbo61

Manchester city council have stated if a property has been empty for some time they can and will back date the council tax charge.
From April 2013 they will charge 150% council tax on long term empty properties!
If you buy a derelict property you can only claim council tax exemption for one month while you refurbish the place and then you pay 100% council tax.
If you leave the property empty you will pay 150% council tax.
Different councils are doing different things.
This will I hope lead to many of the one million empty properties around the country being repaired and sold/rented out to people looking for a place to live.

K.Tarshes

dimbo61 wrote: »

From April 2013 they will charge 150% council tax on long term empty properties!
If you buy a derelict property you can only claim council tax exemption for one month while you refurbish the place and then you pay 100% council tax.
If you leave the property empty you will pay 150% council tax.
Different councils are doing different things.
This will I hope lead to many of the one million empty properties around the country being repaired and sold/rented out to people looking for a place to live.

150% :eek: This is huge news. This will be a shock to many.

I can see that over a million empty properties in the UK being reduced to almost none very shortly.

K.Tarshes

lincroft1710 wrote: »

If such a dwelling still has a CT band then the owner can apply to the VOA to have the band removed, there is no 6 month time limit on this type of application. The VOA may or may not agree and the case can be determined by the Valuation Tribunal.

One downside is that once the dwelling is deemed fit for re-assessment for CT it may perfectly legally end up with a higher CT band than previously.

The council are obliged to bill the occupier of if unoccupied, the owner of any dwelling in its area which has a CT band, subject to any reliefs or exemptions which may apply.

So are you saying there will be some properties that will still be exempt from council tax even after the changes of April this year?