Council Tax on annex advice!

plight

We are being asked to pay separate council tax for a bedroom downstairs even though it has not changed since we bought the property 3 years ago. We had a visit from the valuation officer to say it had come to light that we owned a self contained annex and it needed a separate banding. We spoke to the local council who said that from 1998 - 2001 the house had two tax bands but from 2001 the name "annex" was taken from the council tax bill and the house had been under one band since.
The problem seems to have come about when we offered accommodation to someone who was basically homeless. He was with us for 3 months and during that time he was claiming housing benefits. Unknown to us he told the benefits department he was living in a self contained annex to claim rent money.
Our problem now is we cannot convince the Valuation Office that this was a temporary situation to help out someone and we have no intention of ever renting this room out.
Does anyone know if I could live in this bedroom as a dependant (I am 65 yrs old and my partner is soon to retire but working full time at the moment). Can dependant mean financially as I am fit and well otherwise?
Also if the house was deemed to be one property since 2001 even as it was run as a full time B&B, and nothing structurally has changed, how can they justify now giving us a separate council tax for this room?
There seems to be no way out of this and we are looking at having an extra £1000 a year on our council tax bill. When we try and explain this to the valuation officer they just stick to their mantra that we have a self contained "annex" even though we call it a garden room that the family use when visiting.

All very, very frustrating. Has anyone successfully challenged this separate council tax within their home? I would really appreciate if anyone has any advice.

Many thanks!
Plight

pmlindyloo

This link seems to cover everything

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/435664/Council_Tax_Bands_and_Annexes.pdf

plight

Thank you for your reply. However this does not cover our query that why after 13 yrs of being on one council tax band they have decided it should now be two separate ones - nothing has changed in the house. We cannot get a straight answer from anyone!

pmlindyloo

The link does tell you how to appeal the decision which is what it seems you should be doing.

tomtontom

"A bedroom" would not prompt the authority to reclassify a property. What is the layout of the area they are referring to?

plight

We have four bedrooms downstairs and a kitchen. All bedrooms are en-suite and the bedroom in question has patio doors to the garden. The kitchen was used for the previous b&b and was there when we bought it. Nothing in the layout of the rooms have changed. This is why we are confused. For the past 13years this has been the layout.

DaftyDuck

No, but it was changed before you bought it, and was marked for re-evaluation as a result.

The kitchen was used for the previous b&b and was there when we bought it

PasturesNew

Could this fella have tapped on your bedroom door and enquired "fancy a cup of tea missus?" Did he have access to your "part of the house"? If you lock a door, does that make "his bit" separate? Are there two kitchens? When he lived with you, did you jostle for space in the kitchen?

These are the sort of questions that'd be asked to see if it's one property or two.

plight

DafyDuck: The kitchen and bedroom have always been here. We have been in the house 3 years and this is the first time we have been contacted for re-banding the property.


Pastersnew: We have another kitchen upstairs but this guy was a friend and had access to the rest of the house....he had dinner with us frequently. We were basically giving him a roof over his head until he got himself sorted out. There are locks on all the doors from B&B days.


Thanks for your replies, it does help to focus on what they "authorities" might be thinking!!

lincroft1710

As there is a "living room", bathroom and kitchen, that is a self contained unit in CT law and thus qualifies for separate banding. Locks on doors have no relevance.

Your problem is that you have 2 kitchens, do you really need a first floor kitchen?

dancingfairy

I'm trying to think how you can easily and cheaply make it all one property. Just removing the lock doesn't sound like it would be enough. I think you will need to remove one kitchen or knock through from the 'annex' to the main part of the house
df