Council Tax: New Owner liable for Empty Property Premium?

Wul100

Hi there.

Are there any Council Tax experts out there who can help please?

A friend has just bought a property which was an estate sale following the passing of the owner. When they have contacted the local authority (City of Edinburgh Council) to inform them they were the new owners and that they were not moving in immediately as the house needed gutted out and redecorated and furnished, the council advised them they would be liable for the empty property premium of 100% meaning they will be paying 3 council tax amounts. One for their current property (for sale) and double for the new property.

Upon questioning this with the council - they have said that due to the previous owners claiming for all the reliefs available for a year prior to the sale that there were no discounts left and as such she is liable for the 100% surcharge?

Surely this simply isnt right?

Having read the Scottish Government guidance on this it states all the above is correct.....however nowhere in the blurb does it mention what happens when the property is then sold. I can understand this applying when the property remains in the same ownership - but surely the counter is reset when the property is sold? It's basically like being liable for a tax bill on a house you never owned!!

Thanks for any help.

HappyMJ

Move in whilst painting and furnishing it in your friends spare time and ask for a single persons discount. If your friend has a partner they can stay living in the old house and also get a single persons discount.

I'm not suggesting fraud by no means.....your friend has to actually move in not just say they are....and your friends partner must stay in the old house.

Trickyann

I believe the exemption is for the house rather than the owner, so although it does seem unfair that is what the rules seem to be. It might be that it applies for one council tax year so if the renovations take more than that time or crossover into the new year then the slate may be wiped clean and an allowance given. I am not 100% certain that all councils apply the same timeframes and percentages. Certainly our local council only gives 1 month exemption from payment if the house is empty and unfurnished however long it takes you to move in if it is in habitable condition. My son rented a property that had been renovated prior to him moving in and although he was paying rent 2 months before he chose to move any furniture and himself in (due to problems over internet he needed for work) he had to pay council tax right from day one.

silvercar

It's right. I was expecting to get stung for this on buying an empty property, but the previous owner had claimed to be living there so I wasn't charged.

Incidentally 100% surcharge is expensive, other places are cheaper I was potentially liable for 50% more.

I think you only need minimal furniture to live there, so you can decide yourself when to officially swap residences- you don't have to wait until every light fitting has been changed.

LeoTLion

I'm pretty sure individual councils have discretion to set the rate they charge on empty properties, that's the way it works in England at least, not sure about Scotland. This would tend to mean that there is some leeway in how rules are enforced.

I'd suggest your friend write a nice email to the councillor for the area in which the new house is located explaining the situation and asking them to look into it on her behalf. She should probably go heavy on the returning an empty property to use, being an owner occupier and how counter productive the council's policy for empty homes is if it penalises people who are trying to do the right thing.

CIS

The regulations are based against the property and not the owner (to stop people swapping properties about) so if the property meets the criteria for the premium then it will apply, regardless of owner.

agrinnall

I guess the lesson from such a story is to do the research in advance and price the purchase accordingly - if you know the vendor has taken all of the exemption and that you are going to have to pay extra while the property remains unoccupied, deduct some of that extra cost from your offer.

getmore4less

The lesson is do the research before talking to the council about what you want to pay.

They will now be on the lookout for any attempt to pay less than 200%.

fed_up_and_stressed

HappyMJ wrote: »

Move in whilst painting and furnishing it in your friends spare time and ask for a single persons discount. If your friend has a partner they can stay living in the old house and also get a single persons discount.

I'm not suggesting fraud by no means.....your friend has to actually move in not just say they are....and your friends partner must stay in the old house.

If they are stating they are living there when they are not then that is a misrepresentation and so a fraudulent statement.

Better to move in whilst redecorating then you would be eligible for single person discount (assuming it is just you living there as your main residence).

Wul100

Thanks for the advice. Alas this is likely to be the last house they buy due to age (ground floor flat) so a tough lesson to learn.

However - this information should be disclosed by the sellers as either part of the missives or in the homebuyers report for the purposes of full disclosure.

HappyMJ

Wul100 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. Alas this is likely to be the last house they buy due to age (ground floor flat) so a tough lesson to learn.

However - this information should be disclosed by the sellers as either part of the missives or in the homebuyers report for the purposes of full disclosure.

Tough lesson...really it's not that bad.

What information anyway? The fact it's been empty and a council tax reduction has been applied to the account?

There's hundreds of things that really could be disclosed but it just becomes information overload and the information you really need gets lost in all that. I'd rather keep that property information form as short as possible.