Council tax SPD query - my girlfriend has her own place, spends 50% of time at my house

dsheld

Hello, I have a question regarding council tax SPD.


I have recently begun renting a small cottage which I live in. My girlfriend stays here with me for approximately 50% of the time, however she works away alot and she has her own property that she pays council tax on elsewhere.


Could anyone advise me as to whether I am likely to be eligible for a single-person occupancy council tax discount or not?


Many thanks, Danny

00ec25

there is no single legal definition of "main" home for CT purposes

instead it is based on a series of judgement calls each of which have been tested in court and when considered in totality are summarised as the concept "degree of permanence, continuity, or expectation of continuity"

- your GF has a home of her own (where she presumably claims SPD herself)
- you and she have a continuous pattern where she uses your property
- you both expect that to continue until you buy somewhere else, you marry or you split up

There is no simple checklist you can tick boxes on, but Gosport summarise some of the key subjective tests on their website here:

https://www.gosport.gov.uk/sections/your-council/council-services/council-tax/sole-or-main-residence/

she has to decide which is her home and be prepared to defend that stance

CIS

As above - it depends where her 'sole or main residence' lies, if that is at the property then she is 'resident' and affects your single person discount. If her 'sole or main residence' is not at the property then she is not 'resident' and you can keep your discount.


If she has her own home with a security of tenure that she returns to live in and treats that as her main residence then you can probably still argue that is her 'sole or main residence' but the argument over 'sole or main residence' is one of the most common arguments which comes up and can cause a lot of issues.

dsheld

00ec25 wrote: »

there is no single legal definition of "main" home for CT purposes

instead it is based on a series of judgement calls each of which have been tested in court and when considered in totality are summarised as the concept "degree of permanence, continuity, or expectation of continuity"

- your GF has a home of her own (where she presumably claims SPD herself)
- you and she have a continuous pattern where she uses your property
- you both expect that to continue until you buy somewhere else, you marry or you split up

There is no simple checklist you can tick boxes on, but Gosport summarise some of the key subjective tests on their website here:


link deleted due to new user


she has to decide which is her home and be prepared to defend that stance

Thanks for your help.

She does not claim SPD in her other home.

She lets out her other place as a holiday let when she is away and if she is working then she is usually provided with accomodation. If her place is let out (whilst not working) then she either stays with me or with her friends or family.

I suppose that it would be best for me to declare to my council that my GF spends extended periods of time at my address. I suppose that I should point out that she has her own property elsewhere, where she pays council tax.

CIS

I suppose that it would be best for me to declare to my council that my GF spends extended periods of time at my address. I suppose that I should point out that she has her own property elsewhere, where she pays council tax.

To be honest she may run in to some problems persuading the council that her property is her 'sole or main residence' if she is renting it out whilst working away. The council will likely want to look further but if it is only for short periods and only to people for a holiday let then that should still be ok to look at the property as potentially still being her 'sole or main residence'.


Why isn't she claiming a single person discount on the property ? If the property remains her 'sole or main residence' and the only other occupiers are only living there as holiday lets (therefore it's not their 'sole or main residence') then she is not prevented from claiming for a discount.

agrinnall

If her property is available to let for 140 days per year then she should be paying business rates rather than CT. How that woud then impact on your ability to claim SPD I have no idea, it sounds like it could get messy.


https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates/self-catering-and-holiday-let-accommodation

00ec25

dsheld wrote: »

Thanks for your help.

She does not claim SPD in her other home.

She lets out her other place as a holiday let when she is away and if she is working then she is usually provided with accomodation. If her place is let out (whilst not working) then she either stays with me or with her friends or family.

I suppose that it would be best for me to declare to my council that my GF spends extended periods of time at my address. I suppose that I should point out that she has her own property elsewhere, where she pays council tax.

so a reasonable person looking in would say her home is with you and it is her main home even though she may not own it or pay rent on it. |Your place is where she would go if she had the choice, not her own place as whenever possible she lets that out, making it look more like a second/holiday home, not a main home .

if you are already claiming SPD then I think you need to "review" your situation.

CIS

agrinnall wrote: »

If her property is available to let for 140 days per year then she should be paying business rates rather than CT. How that woud then impact on your ability to claim SPD I have no idea, it sounds like it could get messy.


https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates/self-catering-and-holiday-let-accommodation

A SPD couldn't be given in those cases as the property could not be someone's 'sole or main residence' otherwise it would still be domestic.

kidmugsy

Where is her post delivered?

dsheld

Elsewhere. Not here. I'm not sure where her post is delivered to.

CIS

Post is something that can be looked at in the overall discussion of 'sole or main residence' but it's not a conclusive proof of residence (and thus council tax discounts). At some point the issue needs to be looked on as a whole to figure it out otherwise you're just going to end up further down the line with bigger problems.