Council Tax on unrated property

lxw04

Hello, I'm posting for someone who has been in rented property for the past 6/7 years and is now being chased for nearly £9,000 in council tax even though the property was only rated last October.

The (small) property adjoins a 4 bedroom house via an internal door and the landlord has apparently been trying to get the properties split for years. A contribution to the main property's council tax was paid to the neighbouring tenant up until they vacated last November and handwritten receipts and direct debits have been provided to the council but they don't seem interested.

He has now been ordered to pay £800+ a month which has been lowered to £400 following a telephone call to Revenues but I don't see why he should be liable for the whole amount if the property didn't officially exist until last year. The address does not exist on the Royal Mail website, he hasn't had wheelie bins etc.

He is so worried about the bailiffs taking his belongings he has set up a direct debit for next month which I believe was an unreasonable request.

The Revenues person on the telephone was helpful but couldn't answer these queries, she just lowered the monthly amount and extended the date. Does anybody have any advice? TIA

theoretica

I was familiar years ago with a property that the council decided should be two lots of council tax, rather than one. The argument. as I recall, was that the second property had not been unrated, but rather part of the larger property and when they were split the main property was (with much argument) taken down a band. In that case the separate council tax was only charged/paid from the date of separation. I wonder if the argument about the property not being unrated but included (if incorrectly) in the other property might help?

CIS

For council tax purposes there is no requirement to declare a property exists but conversely there is the ability for (in many situations) council tax bandings to be backdated to correct the valuation list - part of this is to prevent people avoiding council tax.

You need to separate the date the valuation list was altered and the actual date of the banding - what has happened here is that the list was updated in October but the banding was backdated the 6 years or so to ensure the list is correct.

Any agreements that were made previously between the landlord and a occupier have no effect at all on the decision of the valuation office in banding it or not.

What I do see, and I deal relatively regularly with backdated council tax charges, is that the council often do not correctly deal with the council tax liability and any discounts/exemptions. I often end up having to dispute the charges for clients to make sure the details match what legislation requires.

The fact it does not show on Royal Mail or has had any direct services from the council (although clearly the occupier has used council services) is immaterial to the backdating of the council tax charge,

CIS

theoretica wrote: »

I was familiar years ago with a property that the council decided should be two lots of council tax, rather than one. The argument. as I recall, was that the second property had not been unrated, but rather part of the larger property and when they were split the main property was (with much argument) taken down a band. In that case the separate council tax was only charged/paid from the date of separation. I wonder if the argument about the property not being unrated but included (if incorrectly) in the other property might help?

A lot depends on whether or not it is regarded as a dwelling under section 3 of the LGFA 92 or a self-contained unit under Article 3 of the Chargeable Dwellings Order. They each have separate rules on backdating.

In the posters case it seems that they have decided it was a separate dwelling under s3 and backdated accordingly.

lxw04

Thanks all - I thought it was a ridiculous demand to make but am unsure what to advise him now...

CIS

lxw04 wrote: »

Thanks all - I thought it was a ridiculous demand to make but am unsure what to advise him now...

Well, if I was acting for a client, my advice would three fold - 1) review the period to ensure any discounts/exemptions etc have been applied, 2) sort of the liability if there were people living in it (the situation regarding occupiers needs to be looked at carefully) and 3) request that, with an income & expenditure form, that the instalment amount be lowered further (unless he has a very high income).