council tax on unoccupied property

want2bmortgage3

i've just received a massive bill for council tax on my unnoccupied flat. i have just finished re-decorating it as the previous tenants left it in quite a mess. when i rang the council tax about 5 months ago they told me it would be exempt and they would put a full discount on it.

turns out this only lasts one month, yes one month, before going to full 100% charge, even if no ones in the property. how is that right? yes i've taken some time to do the work because it needed new flooring throughout, new skirting boards, thorough cleaning and decorating and so on.

i am not happy with this considering i've not been using the council services, they've had about 1 full bin from me in the last 5 months! is this a new thing because i'm sure you were allowed 6 months tax free a few years ago?

jacques_chirac

Yes, it changed in April. Council tax exemptions/ reductions are now decided upon locally. You can check what applies in your area on the local authority website. On a positive, other areas would charge 150%.

System

my council gives a 25% discount for 6 months .

p00hsticks

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

i am not happy with this considering i've not been using the council services, they've had about 1 full bin from me in the last 5 months!

So if your house had caught fire or been broken into you wouldn't have expected the fire brigade or police to deal with it ?

Those are just two of the other items partly covered by council tax.

And even if you don't use the services, that's not a legitimate reason for not having to pay for them (I don't have kids and so will never make use of any of their education services, but accept that as a membr of society I'm expected to pay for them).

xylophone

(I don't have kids and so will never make use of any of their education services, but accept that as a membr of society I'm expected to pay for them).

These children will be your doctor/solicitor/ care worker/ plumber/ electrician..........

p00hsticks

xylophone wrote: »

These children will be your doctor/solicitor/ care worker/ plumber/ electrician..........

... and so I will look forward to the discount on their bills for my having contributed financially to their education :rotfl:

As I stated in my original post, I fully accept that as a member of society I contribute via my council taxes to any number of services such as education, public libraries, social services etc even if I don't personally make use of them.