Council Tax for last day of tenancy - Tenant or Landlord?

Andreasz

Hi,
I vacate my house on last day of tenancy at 8am as required by landlord. Who is responsible for the council tax for the last day, me or landlord?

hazyjo

Did your contract say 8am? Only it's typically midnight.

Andreasz

Nothing about 8am in contract. Landlord said I had to hand keys to him at 8am so he can do inventory checks.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

If the house was under the control of the landlord (i.e. you had handed over the keys) at the end of the day, he/she will be responsible for council tax as per the relevant legislation.

"Liability to pay council tax shall be determined on a daily basis. It shall be assumed that any state of affairs subsisting at the end of the day had subsisted throughout the day."

In effect, this means that the person controlling the premises at midnight is responsible for that day's council tax.

In any case, as far as I can remember, that's always been how I've been billed by councils for voids, starting with Day 1 taken as the last day of the tenancy that ended (usually but not always the same day that the tenants vacated the property).
https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/forum/residential-letting-questions/79376-responsibility-for-council-tax-on-last-day-of-tenancy

sal_III

I hope this is purely an academic question and you are not actually bickering over 30p worth of council tax.

Andreasz

sal_III said:

I hope this is purely an academic question and you are not actually bickering over 30p worth of council tax.

Is £4.45 and landlord is refusing to release deposit because of this.

I told council I vacated on 20 Jan and they send me bill till 19 Jan which I have paid. But landlord says I have to pay for 20 January also.

BelowTheLine

sal_III said:

I hope this is purely an academic question and you are not actually bickering over 30p worth of council tax.

Where is this utopia where the CT bill for a year is just £109.50?   

Andysandy

If your land lord wants "proof", just email the council's council tax dept asking for a clarification. You told them that you vacated on 20th and they billed you until the 19th, so it's self evident.

The landlord seems like a bit of a d**khead and looks like he will try his best to hold on to as much of your deposit as he can. If he's been in the game for a reasonable amount of time, he knows that he is liable.

ThePants999

Just go through the deposit protection scheme. The landlord can't refuse to release it without convincing them of his case.

CIS

This type of debate is as long as the history of council tax. - I've lost track of the number of hours I've spent on similar cases and, quite frankly, it's an absolute waste of money trying to deal with the disputes from landlords compared to the sums involved.

As mentioned earlier s2 of the LGFA 1992 deals with the 'daily basis' of council tax - s6 (and to a lesser extent ss7-9) deal with who will be liable on any particular day, bearing reference to the criteria set under s2. The council have no power to override or alter the liability determined in legislation.

2  Liability to tax determined on a daily basis
(1)    Liability to pay council tax shall be determined on a daily basis.

(2)     For the purposes of determining for any day--

(a)     whether any property is a chargeable dwelling;

(b)     which valuation band is shown in the billing authority's valuation list as applicable to any chargeable dwelling;

(c)     the person liable to pay council tax in respect of any such dwelling; or

(d)     whether any amount of council tax is subject to a discount and (if so) the amount of the discount,

it shall be assumed that any state of affairs subsisting at the end of the day had subsisted throughout the day.

The valuation tribunal's take on it can be seen in this case

http://info.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk/decision_document.asp?appeal=/decision_documents/documents/CT_England/0345M123137037C.htm&Decision=liability

...

The Panel had to consider whether or not the landlord had possession of the properties on the day the tenancy ends. The appellant contends that the tenancy agreements are not time bound and therefore the tenants had the right to occupy up to the end of the day and that a new tenant’s contract starts from the beginning of the next day. The Billing Authority considered that Mr S, the owner, had the superior interest of the property at the end of the day.

...

11.The Panel noted that the tenancy agreements end on the 30 June each year and the new tenancy starts on the 1 July each year. The tenancies are not time bound and therefore the outgoing tenant could remain in the property until the end of the day at which time he would have to move out.12.The Panel therefore considered that at the end of the day of the 30 June the tenants held the highest interest in the property. From the beginning of the next day the incoming tenants hold the highest interest

...

It is not clear in this tribunal case if there was express proof that the surrender had occurred during the day itself, rather than the tenancy ending on that date and the tenant just vacating. It would seem to be the latter.

In your case there doesn't necessarily sound to have been an express surrender on the day therefore, unless someone else had moved in or you could show surrender, then you would remain liable for that day. Handing over keys does not automatically surrender the tenancy and your right to possession of the property.

The above assumes you were in a fixed term period - if you weren't then the argument gets more complicated as the issues of Leeds v Broadley & S6(2)(f) of the LGFA 1992 come in to.

Andreasz

Council has confirmed that I don't have to pay for 20th. I will show to landlord and request him to return my money.
Thank you eveybody.