My flat is not registered

MartaG

My partner and me rented a flat 2 months ago. We have been told that the council tax and the water account have been already opened and that we should receive just the bill at some point. Because we haven’t received anything, I have been in contact with the council to make sure that the account was opened BUT 1)the account wasn’t opened 2) the property is not registered with the council. We also received a visit from one of the council inspector advising us that this flat is not been registered. We don’t have any contact of the landlord so we called the letting agency to have more explanation about that but it looked like they didn’t have a clue of what’s going on and they never called us back to give us more information. I called the water supply, our flat is not registered with them, doesn’t exist on their list. Same for energy, our meter is apparently not registered and they don’t have our flat on their list. It’s a brand new flat, we pay 1000£ a month! I would like to have some advice on what to do.

BrassicWoman

what did the man from the council, the water people and the utilities people say when you asked the very clear question,


"What has to happen next, to ensure this property gets registered, and I don't end up owing you a big bill?"

chelseachampions

I was in a very similar scenario. My advice is to own the tasks of ensuring you are registered paying for what you should be as a tenant. It is frustrating but given you are responsible (only from your start date) it will save unwanted charges / bills further down the line.

Just my opinion.

sal_III

Keep chasing and monitoring the situation. Plus look at your tenancy agreement and be prepared to leave. Sounds like a dodgy conversion and potentially rogue LL.

Friends of mine were in a similar situation - Newly converted flats above shops. It was no end to their woes with bills and missing mail and whatnot. They end up leaving 6 months later and had to go through deposit dispute and the LL took them to small claims court (they won), absolute nightmare.

HampshireH

Its quite common for the water and enegery suppliers not to recognise new build properties.

A lot of new builds are set up with a specific supplier who will recognise the property but often they devlopers will say to not change supplier in the first 6months or so due to the properties not being on the majority of supplier lists.

If its brand new its worth popping into the site office and asking them. Thats if you havent had a handover pack left in the property as these usually detail everything.

xylophone

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3698613/new-build-property-and-no-council-tax-bill-whats-the-position-here


You are not the only residents of this new build block?

Are other tenants in the same position?

You do have an address for the Landlord?

I would write to the council and to utility providers ( keep copies and send signed for) and ask how to proceed.

Make sure to keep money set aside to pay bills when they arrive.

MartaG

There are not other tenants, the flat next to ours is still not rented. We have got landlord name and address but we don!!!8217;t have any phone number. The main problem that worries me is the council tax as it is a record of where I live and I don!!!8217;t want to have any issues with the brexit if I will not be able to demonstrate where I lived !!!55357;!!!56837;

sal_III

MartaG wrote: »

There are not other tenants, the flat next to ours is still not rented. We have got landlord name and address but we don!!!8217;t have any phone number. The main problem that worries me is the council tax as it is a record of where I live and I don!!!8217;t want to have any issues with the brexit if I will not be able to demonstrate where I lived !!!55357;!!!56837;

The council tax is not the only record of where you live and is highly unlikely to be used to determine resident status post Brexit. There are 1000s of people living in HMO for example not named on the CT bill. If anything the electoral roll is a better "tool" for establishing your resident status. No reason to panic over that.

CIS

For council tax I would double check to see if it is registered but under an odd address (happens more often than you would think) - https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

G_M

What does the tenancy agreement say about council tax and utilities?
1) tenant is liable
2) it's included in the rent (landlord is liable) or
3) nothing

If 1) or 3) above, then you are responsible for sorting this out and paying what you owe. If you don't you'll eventually be hit by huge bill!

If 2), then write (yes a letter) to the landlord, at the address provided, explaining the situation and requesting he sort it out.

If you have not got an address for 'serving notices' on the landlord, you do not have to pay rent. (but set the rent aside as eventually you will owe it).

Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 S48

48 Notification by landlord of address for service of notices.

(1)A landlord of premises to which this Part applies shall by notice furnish the tenant with an address in England and Wales at which notices (including notices in proceedings) may be served on him by the tenant.

(2)Where a landlord of any such premises fails to comply with subsection (1), any rent [F203, service charge or administration charge] otherwise due from the tenant to the landlord shall (subject to subsection (3)) be treated for all purposes as not being due from the tenant to the landlord at any time before the landlord does comply with that subsection.

CIS

Even in respect of point 2) - unless the property is a council tax HMO (and certain other unusual cases) then the tenant is ultimately responsible for the council tax charge as far as the council is concerned and, irrespective of any contractual agreement with the landlord, it's the tenant that will be chased by the council and received the backdated demand notice.