Do you have to pay council tax for a property you rent but have moved out?

Rusty14

Long story short, my friend moved into my house as a lodger. He was renting a flat elsewhere and handed his notice but moved into my place before it was over. I am yet the inform the council that he has moved into my house (just haven't got round to it) but he has since received a council tax bill for his old flat for when he had already moved out, although he still had the keys and access to the flat until his notice was over.

Where does he stand here? When I inform the council when he moved into my house, I will lose the 25% single household discount for the same period so effectively he will be paying council tax for two properties even though he wasn't living in the flat he was renting during this time.

Any advice?

00ec25

the law says he has to pay for both properties if he is liable (see below)
do you intend to lie about the date of losing your SP discount?

liability depends on what format is his tenancy agreement...
- periodic tenancy or
- fixed term?
Use the search function to see what that means as the end date for council tax is explained for each of them as it differs. If he is lucky, his landlord may actually be liable, not him.

if he is liable he may still be able to claim for a discount although few councils can afford to be as generous as they used to be in respect of "unoccupied" property. Their discount eligibility rules will be explained on their website, has he read them?

CIS

As above, the council tax liability depends on a) his tenancy type during the period in question and b) the date he decided he wasn't going to return to be resident in that property.

This can be one of the most fiddly aspects of council tax to deal with (I've had to draft cases for the valuation tribunal on more than one occasion over similar). Simply holding a tenancy does not make a person liable in every situation, even if they had a rental liability.