Retirement Apartment - Empty - Council Tax

weby72

I'm not sure this is the right place for this query, so please point me in the right direction is necessary.


The background is that my wife's mother moved into a retirement apartment after buying a 75% share (a housing association owned the other 25%), but passed away 3 years later.


The apartment was placed on the market and cleared to 'unfurnished'. The terms of the tenancy state explicitly that the property cannot be sub-let.


After two sales that fell through, the property has now sold, almost 33 months since my wife's mother died.


There have been hefty service charge and rent (for the in-owned 25%) that have accrued since, plus a sinking-fund charge. This is all very annoying, but not for this thread.


My question follows the council demanding full Council Tax for the period (less the first 6 months following probate). It's a lot of money, almost £3k. They have refused any reduction for this period, and it does seem a high annual figure.


Does anyone have any experience of a situation like this? Does the fact the property was not fully-owned, and could not legally be sub-let have any weight when challenging the council tax bill?


Any help would be appreciated.

Slithery

It's up to each individual council how they charge for empty properties. Some charge 200% so if your council is only asking for 100% then I'd pay up and count myself lucky.

need_an_answer

Its the devil that is retirement complexes I'm afraid.

As slithery said its up to the individual councils I don't know if you can appeal.

The council will no doubt cite that it is clearly defined in the lease regarding sub let when the property was purchased and something you agree to abide by.

davidmcn

weby72 wrote: »

Does the fact the property was not fully-owned, and could not legally be sub-let have any weight when challenging the council tax bill?

No to both. It's up to the owner to consider the risk of how easily they (or their successors) would be able to dispose of their interest when they buy, it's not the council's risk (and the council has no idea what the lease says).

You can't negotiate council tax bills just because they "seem" high - either they're correctly calculated or they're not.

diggingdude

If there is money in the estate then the estate lays the council tax it owes. These retirement properties are a nightmare

Davesnave

diggingdude wrote: »

These retirement properties are a nightmare

However, unless bought new at a premium, they're considerably cheaper than equivalent properties without the problems and restrictions, so the deceased person may have benefited during their lifetime from the lower inward investment.

Larac

Councils dont like empty properties so hence the hike in rates if they are empty. My late Mum's retirement apartment took 18 months to sell. The first six months it was free - the next year full upfront of one year's CT had to be paid. If we had not sold by Oct 19 - then we would have had to pay double CT. I am therefore not surprised after 3 years you are looking at a 3K bill. I do sympathize as the 'estate' hit with the service charges whilst it remains empty.

CIS

The empty property charges certainly aren't cheap, its probably one of the most common disputes/enquiries that I see. In some cases the charge can be mitigated, it's a case of using the legislation to your advantage as far as possible.



How does the joint ownership actually work on the property ? Joint freeholders or joint leaseholders etc?

theartfullodger

Older people - my father eg - often held strongly the view that part of patriotism was paying your taxes:. Cheerfully & promptly.

getmore4less

The trick is to delay full administration till you start to get interested buyers.

CT kicks in 6 months after obtaining the grant

Cakeguts

Your wife's mother will not mind having this money paid out of her estate. It was after all her money not yours. I expect she liked living in that flat? So why would she not want her estate to pay the council tax she owes on it?