FTB - Where do you pay during property overlap?

00ec25

harshitguptaiitr wrote: »

Thanks for the advice and sharing experience. This has been helpful

I have one more question, at what point should I contact energy companies that I will be taking over and that I need a different tariff plan.
Currently, gas and electricity are supplied by different companies and I want to change the gas company.
Not sure when is it appropriate and legal for me to contact the new gas company that I want to take over. Is this something I need to ask estate agent?

you don't seem to have grasped the difference between "exchange" and "complete" in the context of property purchase

until you complete the property remains in the hands (and occupation) of its current owners, and you cannot do anything (other than take out your own building insurance as a necessity) without the permission of the current owners.

- neither you nor your tradesmen can access the property before completion without the agreement of the owners as they still have the keys and say who comes and goes and what is done in the property!
- you cannot change utility supplier until you complete, in the same way as you cannot walk up to a stranger in the street and tell them oh, your gas is now from the utility warehouse, not the company you selected yourself because i want it to be different

as for lead time on contacting the utility companies it obviously makes sense to give them as much notice as possible given they have to schedule the work and you don't know how long they need until you speak to them. But you cannot ask for the work date to be before your completion date.

you contact the utility company directly, it is nothing to do with the estate agent

SuboJvR

Council tax - investigate the councils involved.

You will be liable for council tax at your rental until the last day of your tenancy agreement. You will be liable for council tax at your purchased home from the day you complete.

However, a lot of councils do allow some leeway for vacant properties, but not all do; check. The council area we live in seemingly don't offer this now, thus will likely need to pay full council tax until the last day of our tenancy. I will still clarify with them though as when we moved in, we definitely only paid from the day we actually stayed a night/had furniture in/etc etc.

The council area we are moving to however offer up to two months' grace (i.e. no payment) for vacant properties for people moving home etc. So, on the day we complete, I will phone them, tell them that we have got the keys and it is our house, our details etc, but advise that we will only be living there (and hence paying them money) only from the subsequent date when our move actually happens.

Utilities - same deal. You're responsible whilst you're the tenant/owner, but obviously in a vacant house you won't be paying much except any standing charges and for any heating that you are doing whilst you're not there assuming you are having it come on low. Call the (new?) utility company on the day you complete at your property, tell them who you are, but that you won't actually be living there until X Date. Make sure to check water - is it combined? Or are water supply and waste water separate?

Slithery

SuboJvR wrote: »

Call the (new?) utility company on the day you complete at your property, tell them who you are, but that you won't actually be living there until X Date.

Move in date is irrelevant, you're liable from completion.

aneary

My council wanted 100% on one property I hadn't moved to and 75% (I get single person's discount) on the current property.

Personally I think this is an absolute joke I'm in the same area and using the same services (ie not 125% more) I do think there should be some sort of relief is the overlap is going to be less than a month especially if in the same area.

CIS

You will be liable for council tax at your rental until the last day of your tenancy agreement.

Not always - it depends on a few issues; the term of the original tenancy, whether it is still in the initial fixed term, whether it's passed the fixed term and moved to a periodic tenancy etc.

SuboJvR

Slithery wrote: »

Move in date is irrelevant, you're liable from completion.

Yes I said that. However the utility company may wish to know that the property is vacant for X days.

SuboJvR

CIS wrote: »

Not always - it depends on a few issues; the term of the original tenancy, whether it is still in the initial fixed term, whether it's passed the fixed term and moved to a periodic tenancy etc.

Could you elaborate on this please?

We are currently on a periodic tenancy, I had assumed we would be liable for council tax until the last day of the rental period which would be the last day of the periodic tenancy.

SuboJvR

aneary wrote: »

My council wanted 100% on one property I hadn't moved to and 75% (I get single person's discount) on the current property.

Personally I think this is an absolute joke I'm in the same area and using the same services (ie not 125% more) I do think there should be some sort of relief is the overlap is going to be less than a month especially if in the same area.

It's definitely a shame; this varies between councils however. I've seemingly been quite lucky moving in the past as haven't ever had to double pay for any significant time.

aneary

SuboJvR wrote: »

It's definitely a shame; this varies between councils however. I've seemingly been quite lucky moving in the past as haven't ever had to double pay for any significant time.

With cuts more and more councils are doing this it's an easy win and generally off people who are honest, and therefore will pay.

00ec25

SuboJvR wrote: »

Could you elaborate on this please?

We are currently on a periodic tenancy, I had assumed we would be liable for council tax until the last day of the rental period which would be the last day of the periodic tenancy.

in simple terms (CIS will correct/ add details if req) case law (Leeds City Council v Broadley 2016) has now established that:

Statutory periodic tenancy - at the end of the fixed term, if an AST then goes SPT, the owner of the property (normally the LL) is liable for CT if the tenant moves out "early" and the property is therefore unoccupied, but the tenancy has not yet ended, because the tenant has left before their notice period has ended.

(as a result sensible LL now include clauses in their agreements allowing them to recover such costs from the tenant if they try to shaft the LL with a council tax bill before the tenancy actually ends)

Contractual periodic tenancy - if the AST expressly states that after the fixed term the tenancy will continue as a CPT, then the tenant remains liable for CT right up the day that they successfully end the tenancy by valid notice. If the tenant leaves "early", the tenant remains liable for CT right up to the date the tenancy ceases, ie the (valid) notice expiry date, not the date they moved out if that was before the end.

http://www.landlordsguild.com/how-to-ensure-your-tenant-is-liable-for-council-tax-at-the-end-of-term/