I hate the council!!

mel19632

Ok, quick run through of the story, I hope someone can give me a definitive answer on this!

We bought our property on 17 Oct 2005. It was in quite a poor state, so we continued to live at home for another 6 months - however, i didn't realise that we didnt have to pay council tax during this period,and we paid £168 for three months (until the end of the financial year).

I discovered recently we didnt have to pay this and contacted the council - they inform me that the person who owned it BEFORE me had taken 6 months empty property and that the discount was on the property, not the person.

That effectively means that the person before us got 6 months free, and we have to pay 50% - why should we have to do this? I cant believe this is the case - does this mean you can only take one 6 month empty period per property ever?!

Thank you in advance!!

HairyHandofDartmoor

Well you're not alone in that! and I haven't even read your post yet!!!!

I'll read it now, and hopefully give you a sensible response.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Okay, that doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you should speak to a different person, or get their supervisor to confirm what they said?

robnye

as mentioned, the best people to speak to are the council. i believe the person was wrong, empty property rating is for the property, but if it is sold, then you can get it again.......

if you truley havent lived in it for 6 months after moving in, then as long as you have proof of some kind there should be no problem

mel19632

thank you all for your replies - yes we truly did not live in it, and we can prove it - funny thing is, the council didn't even ask me for proof! they just accepted my word!

i'm glad it doesnt make sense to any of you, but does anyone know where i stand legally? i just cant believe the empty deduction is on the property, not the person, but the person on the phone told me that was the regulations 0 any ideas legal buffs?

Thank you!!!