Renting in shared accommodation

iammumtoone

gycraig wrote: »

If you both pay half rent then split bills I'm afraid I wouldn't be paying council tax I wasn't liable for

And if I was the OP I wouldn't be paying more than 50% of the council tax either at least without a fight to what my rights were.

00ec25

slenderkitten wrote: »

I live in a two bedroom flat in Scotland, environmental health are not going to class it at hmo.

do you understand that there are 2 completely separate definitions of "HMO" for the purposes of council tax and for housing law? I think it improbable that an Enviro health ruling has anything at all to do with deciding council tax liability. Unless scotland does it differently?

Under CT law an HMO is defined as a matter of fact: a property occupied by two or more households (excl the LL) who occupy only part of the property (ie they pay rent for a room, not the entire property, and have to share kitchen, bathroom etc with someone else who they are not sleeping with as part of a single household)

in the rest of the UK where a property is an HMO under council tax law then the LL (not the tenants) is the only person legally liable to pay the CT. The LL can of course use the tenancy agreement to charge the tenant an extra amount in their rent so the LL is reimbursed for that cost, but only the LL has to pay the council if the property is an HMO under CT law (not to be confused with the HMO definition under housing law).

read your scottish law and find out if it is different or not

point 4 bullet point 3 will give you a start:
http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2013/08/4807/7

00ec25

iammumtoone wrote: »

Something doesn't seem right

define "right"

it is a perfectly normal outcome of having a mixed property comprising students and non students. That is easily checked using google

i agree it is unfair on the non student that they had no choice in selecting the other occupant to be a student, but it does not alter the legal liability of who is to pay the CT and moreover it should not alter the amount the non student has to pay if they have read their contract properly before they signed it and seen how the LL intends to collect a contribution towards the CT that the LL is liable for.

slenderkitten

I am not sure of any of this the environmental health said it won't be classed as HMO. It's just a regular flat landlord decides to rent the two bedrooms individually I have tenancy agreement for my bedroom only. There were locks I the bedroom doors but landlord took one off but not the other I'm not sure why that is?

slenderkitten

What about point 8 on the website you included at the bottom of your reply.

00ec25 wrote: »

do you understand that there are 2 completely separate definitions of "HMO" for the purposes of council tax and for housing law? I think it improbable that an Enviro health ruling has anything at all to do with deciding council tax liability. Unless scotland does it differently?

Under CT law an HMO is defined as a matter of fact: a property occupied by two or more households (excl the LL) who occupy only part of the property (ie they pay rent for a room, not the entire property, and have to share kitchen, bathroom etc with someone else who they are not sleeping with as part of a single household)

in the rest of the UK where a property is an HMO under council tax law then the LL (not the tenants) is the only person legally liable to pay the CT. The LL can of course use the tenancy agreement to charge the tenant an extra amount in their rent so the LL is reimbursed for that cost, but only the LL has to pay the council if the property is an HMO under CT law (not to be confused with the HMO definition under housing law).

read your scottish law and find out if it is different or not

point 4 bullet point 3 will give you a start:
http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2013/08/4807/7

slenderkitten

Just to make clear the council tax has never been included with rent tenants pay that themselves.

Dorian1958

Sorry a SAT in Scotland is a Short Assured Tenancy and if you have one, the agreement will set out who is responsible for council tax and utilities. What does yours say? If you don't have one, and it's not an HMO, then something isn't right. If you were there before the newish tenant, how was council tax paid before?

iammumtoone

00ec25 wrote: »

define "right"

it is a perfectly normal outcome of having a mixed property comprising students and non students. That is easily checked using google

i agree it is unfair on the non student that they had no choice in selecting the other occupant to be a student, but it does not alter the legal liability of who is to pay the CT and moreover it should not alter the amount the non student has to pay if they have read their contract properly before they signed it and seen how the LL intends to collect a contribution towards the CT that the LL is liable for.

If the LL is liable for the CT it is fair and right what part/how much of the rent the LL decides to charge for the council tax is up to them.
They could charge different prices for different rooms and all would be fair as the tenant(s) agreed to it.

I was referring to the fact the LL does not pay the council tax, this seems to be down to the occupants and it is not "right" the the OP is penalised due to the LL choosing a student to live in the property. The OP did not agree to having a student move in, therefore did not agree to what is in effect an increase of their rent.

iammumtoone

slenderkitten wrote: »

What about point 8 on the website you included at the bottom of your reply.

That does not apply to you.

It is referring to if a student is a LL and rents to a non student they are still liable for council tax on the property the non student tenant lives in.

You need to find your contract and tell everyone what it says about liability for bills/council tax. People will be able to help you better then.

Dorian1958

So OP, put us out of our misery:

1. Do you have a Short Assured Tenancy agreement (it will say this at the top of the document)?
2. If so, what exactly does it say about who is responsible for council tax and liabilities?
3. If not, what is your agreement (if any) titled?
4. Before the newish tenant moved in, how were council tax and utilities paid for?
Your answers should enable people to advise you otherwise we are going off on tangents and have incomplete information with which to advise.