Help please! Problems with bill payments.

timan914

Hi everyone. Hope you can help me with this query.
I rent a room in a house in which there were 3 other people living there. So I assumed the bills would be split equally 4 ways.
Now one of the tenants has left without paying his share of August council tax. It is £88 usually divided by the amount of people resident at the property.
Now as there were 4 of us, I paid £22 but the landlord is saying that because the other guy didn't pay up, the rest of us have to pay his share, which makes the total £29.33.
Do I have to make the extra payment of £7.33 or is it down to the landlord to chase up? I know its not a large amount of money but its more the principle.

Thanks in advance.

anselld

Are you all on a joint contract or separate room contracts?

G_M

1) is this a HMO? If so,the landlord is liable for Council Tax

2) Do the 4 of you have a single "joint & several" tenancy,or each have seperate tenancies? What do/does the tenancy Agreement(s) say about council tax?

CIS

As far as council tax is due then the situation regarding agreement you have on the property makes a big difference as G_M has stated.

It does sounds like it's probably a HMO though.

timan914

I think the landlord was in the process of getting a HMO as its a 6 bedroom house but there was only 3 people living there at the time, then I moved in and another guy so currently there are 5 people there.
How many people does there need to be for a HMO to have to be in place?
Each of the tenants have single tenancies, people move in a different times.
So if its not a HMO then I'm liable for that council tax is that right? But there are 5 of us now so if its not a HMO then it should be?

Thanks again everyone.

RAS

G_M wrote: »

1) is this a HMO? If so,the landlord is liable for Council Tax

2) Do the 4 of you have a single "joint & several" tenancy,or each have seperate tenancies? What do/does the tenancy Agreement(s) say about council tax?

Please answer the questions above, particularly question 2.

Whether or not you pay extra CT depends on the Contract. Is it sole or joint and several?

timan914

The landlord was supposed to be getting the license for the HMO renewed but I don't know if he has done so yet. Anything that costs money he is very slow at paying out for.
There are now 5 people living at the house, soon to be 6 people, then after a month back down to 5 people.
We all have separate tenancies.
I will have to look at the wording of the contract to see what it says about council tax. Does it make a difference if it is a HMO though which it should be as there are 5/6 people in the house at present.

RAS

timan914 wrote: »

We all have separate tenancies.

As we have tried to explain what matters is not whether the HMO is registered but whether you have joint or sole tenancies.

If each tenancy covers one room and access to shared facilities, whether the tenancy is registered as an HMO is irrelevant.

What matters is that for CT purposes the LL is liable for the bill, not you.

timan914

Ok thanks you. The problem is that the landlord has £200 of my money for what he calls 'bills in advance' so if any tenant doesn't pay their share of the council tax and water, he can take the money from their 'bills in advance'.
As far as I am concerned, I have paid my share and I don't want to pay anyone elses. What can I do if he tries to take the money from my 'bills in advance money'?

timan914

My tenancy agreement says:

4. The tenant agrees with the landlord-
(1)To pay the rent as set out above
(2) (a) To pay any council tax which the tenant is obliged to pay under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 or any regulations under that Act.
(b) To pay to the landlord the amount of any council tax which, while the tenancy continues, the Landlord becomes obliged to pay under that Act or those regulations for any part of the period of the tenancy because the Tenant ceases to live at the property.

anselld

timan914 wrote: »

My tenancy agreement says:

4. The tenant agrees with the landlord-
(1)To pay the rent as set out above
(2) (a) To pay any council tax which the tenant is obliged to pay under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 or any regulations under that Act.
(b) To pay to the landlord the amount of any council tax which, while the tenancy continues, the Landlord becomes obliged to pay under that Act or those regulations for any part of the period of the tenancy because the Tenant ceases to live at the property.

This seems to be HMO (licensed or not immaterial) so...

You are not liable for CT under the finance act 1992; the landlord is.
2b does not apply because you have not ceased to live at the property.

If you are unsure then phone the CT department at your council and get a definitive answer.

You are certainly not jointly liable for another tenant's debt as you have not signed a "joint and several" contract.