Council Tax query

paddedjohn

If you are the only non student and this is your main residence then you could be liable for the whole council tax bill minus your 25% discount.

seahorse61

I wouldn't really call it a 'residence'; surely I have been a guest not a resident, I think there is an important difference when it comes to council tax bills.

The second thing is, are you allowed to go on the electoral roll if you are just a guest somewhere (not a resident)? I think this is the case - apart from anything else the legal requirement seems to be that you need to go on the electoral roll, even if just a guest, but maybe this could cause an unwanted complication with the council tax for the property (but isn't this separate departments, electoral roll and council tax).

BigAunty

A written tenancy agreement is not a requirement to determine if the occupant is a tenant. The payment of rent may be sufficient to prove this status, whether the person is a sub-tenant (tenant of the tenant rather than the landlord) or a tenant with direct payment to the landlord. That's how it works in housing law - this means people without a tenancy agreement still have the same rights as others with paperwork.

CT advice on websites talk about 'residents'. You were resident there. You seem to think that it wasn't a 'proper' tenancy but simply living there gives you potential CT liability, the fact that it was temporary and extended from time to time is irrelevant. I don't believe you need to be named on a tenancy to have potential responsibility for paying towards council tax.

Do you pay rent? To the other tenants or to the landlord?

See the Shelter website to understand what constitutes a tenancy.

Don't complicate things by musing on electoral registration. This doesn't influence council tax matters.

Don't complicate things by throwing out terms like 'guest'. Not even sure that the term 'guest' is helpful in this context - guests, as far as I'm concerned, don't pay rent! They merely visit the property for brief periods, like a relative or partner staying on a part time basis who wholly reside elsewhere when not present in the property - they are therefore usually paying council tax somewhere else.

Guests is not a term you find in benefits, housing law, council tax regulations....They may use the word 'occupier' or 'resident'. You were resident in the property for periods of time with no other primary residence so it was your main and sole place of living.

Don't complicate things by saying that the duration you stayed there wasn't predictable and just happened to roll-on. You won't get out of any liabilities just because the acccommodation was temporary and came about by accident...

Don't complicate things by mentioning periods away - people with council tax liability still have to pay when they go on holiday...were your belongings in the property while you were away, did you pay rent while you were away?

Don't complicate things by musing on whether the other tenants had the responsibility for notifying the council tax department of your presence or not. The council will not recognise the term 'main tenant'. Occupants generally have a joint/several liability, there is no 'chief' tenant by CT definitions.

Certain properties are classed as HMOs (houses in multiple occupancy) but this is a complex definition that can change from area to area. Have a look at the council website to determine whether or not the property is classed as a HMO. Certain HMOs require the landlord to be responsible for paying the council tax - check if this is the case with your property or not. It may be the case that you have no CT liability whatsoever if it falls onto the landlord through the local HMO definition. Just to be clear here, not all HMOs require the landlord to be responsible for CT.

Each council will publish a hierarchy of liability that clearly sets out who is responsible for paying. If the owner is not responsible under HMO definitions for the area, the occupiers are and they usually have a joint/several liability that means any or all of them are responsible (less any discounts they receive). In other words, the council doesn't care who pays, how it is divided up, so long as it is paid, they won't get involved with squabbles on internal decisions made by those who are liable (and students generally have little or no liability).

Your best bet is to study HMO definitions and the CT hierarchy of liability - these provide facts rather than musing and hoping.

The only hope that you should have is that the authorities were not aware of your presence in the property and believe it is a 100% student residence so that you are presented with a bill.

EDIT - example hierarchy

http://www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/counciltax/495.asp

seahorse61

@bigaunty - thanks.

It's students in the property, with one of them being a head tenant (or similar wording) I understand. Which means they figure as no. 3 on the hierarchy list you linked to (there is no live-in landlord or owner). Either no 3 or no 4.

I haven't said anything about paying anything to anyone...by the way. This wasn't the direction of my querying. (And my things are in a storage facility.) But top quality feedback, thanks.

If the head student needed to adjust the scenario to take into account my being there recently, would it be complicated for them, incidentally? it would be them that did it (not me) I assume? not sure whose responsibility the position is (and generally), I will re-read your post/s. Someone suggested they may have had a query from the council, I don't know about that, if this were the case, it would be quite simple to sort out (though there would be a bill involved), or would it not...

CIS

A resident for council tax purposes is a person aged over 18 years of age who has their 'sole or main residence' in the property.

It sounds like you would be resident for council tax purposes and you are currently living in the property as your home - temporarily vacating to go elsewhere and then returning to the property would tend to also indicate this.

If you are resident and you're not named on a tenancy agreement with the students then, unless you are a partner of one of the students, they would remain responsible for any council tax charge which may be due for the property.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

You are probably just a temporary visitor so nobody would need to know anything.

BigAunty

seahorse61 wrote: »

@bigaunty - thanks.

It's students in the property, with one of them being a head tenant (or similar wording) I understand. Which means they figure as no. 3 on the hierarchy list you linked to (there is no live-in landlord or owner). Either no 3 or no 4.

...

There is no such thing as a head tenant in council tax legislation as far as I know, though I believe that one can be nominated when it comes to the landlord deposit scheme (which is nothing to do with council tax). Happy to be corrected on that one.


This is the best document I have explained that details what joint and several means. It also touches on when a student and non-student shares.

http://www.lewes.gov.uk/Files/coutaxfact3.pdf

Sub-tenants (scottish term, I think) or licensees (english term, I think) are classed as residents, they may not be the actual tenants but have permission to stay there, and do appear on the hierarchy, albeit one step down according to this one. Perhaps that's what you mean when you refer to the other as the 'head' tenant and why you may not be liable at all?

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/tax_e/tax_council_tax_ew/council_tax.htm


if the council tax department are not notified that you have lived in the property, then I can't see why this would be an issue as they are not psychic. Has one of the tenants reported your liability to the council tax department. You should see how to contest this, if this is the case, citing the liability hierarchy.

CIS

Happy to be corrected on that one.

You are correct, it doesn't exist in council tax legislation.