What constitutes "Living" in a house?

GaleSF63

From how you have described your circumstances, it sounds like the house you are converting is your main residence and you are staying at a friend's house because it isn't always practical to be in the conversion because of the building work.

Are you staying with friends or renting from them? Are they paying the council tax there?

What are you converting it from? Where were you living before you started the conversion?

Making it a holiday let because that's the only permission you could get sounds as if you want to live there. What are your plans when it is finished?

davidmcn

vet8 wrote: »

What is the differrence between a house occupied by one family all year and a house occupied by 52 different families

As above - the holiday house is never going to create a demand for more school places, which is a major consideration for councils. The contributions which developers need to pay for each new house in catchment areas for almost-full schools typically run into the thousands. Similar logic will apply to other council services (holiday homes are unlikely to trouble the social work department, for example).

And I suspect very few holiday homes are occupied 52 weeks a year anyway.

vet8

teddysmum wrote: »

Why should you not pay council tax ?


It is not a tax paid for the privilege of living in a house (which is in good order ) but to pay for other things like schools, sports facilities, parks,libraries, roads, lighting, waste disposal,emergency services etc.


You may claim that you don't use all of these, but very few of us use all the services we pay for. eg I have no use for schools or sports facilities.

Sorry I think you have misunderstood me. I have no objection to paying council tax and we in fact pay a lot every month, but what I was trying to say was that the council's entire point was that we must be living in the holiday let as we were not paying council tax in their area on another property. That appeared to be the only reason they decided we were living in the holiday let, which I found weird.

Madmel

If it's a holiday let, you should be paying non-domestic rates. In this area, you would also not be entitled to use the domestic kerbside rubbish and recycling collection scheme, although where the holiday let is on the same site as the owners' domestic (council taxed) accommodation and the waste cannot easily be distinguished, they turn a blind eye.

It sounds like you are using the fact you are refurbishing as a reason not to pay Council Tax, when really you should be paying NDR in any case. You should also be paying Council Tax elsewhere.

vet8

Madmel wrote: »

If it's a holiday let, you should be paying non-domestic rates. In this area, you would also not be entitled to use the domestic kerbside rubbish and recycling collection scheme, although where the holiday let is on the same site as the owners' domestic (council taxed) accommodation and the waste cannot easily be distinguished, they turn a blind eye.

It sounds like you are using the fact you are refurbishing as a reason not to pay Council Tax, when really you should be paying NDR in any case. You should also be paying Council Tax elsewhere.

As I stated above, we are paying council tax elsewhere. I do not seem to be explaining myself very well.

The council seem to have used as their entire criteria to judge that we live here the fact that we are not paying council tax at another address in their collection area. We were told by the council that they cannot charge us business rates yet until the place is up and running as a holiday let and it is not ready yet as we are still working on it. They then said they would charge domestic council tax on it until that time, - fair enough.

Now they are saying that basically as we are paying this when they charged us, this must mean we live there. So because we honestly paid the bill they sent us they say this means we are living there. I paid it because I assumed that if we did not we would get sent to prison.

martindow

vet8 wrote: »

As I stated above, we are paying council tax elsewhere. I do not seem to be explaining myself very well.

The council seem to have used as their entire criteria to judge that we live here the fact that we are not paying council tax at another address in their collection area. We were told by the council that they cannot charge us business rates yet until the place is up and running as a holiday let and it is not ready yet as we are still working on it. They then said they would charge domestic council tax on it until that time, - fair enough.

Now they are saying that basically as we are paying this when they charged us, this must mean we live there. So because we honestly paid the bill they sent us they say this means we are living there. I paid it because I assumed that if we did not we would get sent to prison.

I'm sorry OP, but your explanations have confused people replying here so maybe the LA is confused by them as well. If you show them you are paying CT elsewhere by writing a clear letter and providing copies of a bill they would be satisfied in the short term.

If your renovation has gone on endlessly I'm not surprised they are getting suspicious that you are living there and not running a holiday let.