Council Tax 100% Premium HELP!!

Crashy_Time

AdrianC said:

Milinko87 said:

I have looked online and saw we can have it removed if we 'move into' the house. Please can anyone confirm this? I would much rather say we are living there...

Of course, I assume you really WOULD be moving in and living there, not merely lying about "moving in"? Because that would be fraud... And councils really don't like CT fraud. Nor do courts.

No, and councils are going to need all the revenue they can get during Covid so empty property makes a perfect sitting duck tax target.

davidmcn

Moderne said:

I have now written to my MP...

Why, what does the council tax being levied by a Welsh council have to do with anybody at Westminster? Would be rather more relevant to contact the local councillors.

lincroft1710

Some English councils have to raise money to honour famous former residents. South Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire has approved a £100,000 spend on an event to unveil a statue of Margaret Thatcher

https://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/council-to-unveil-thatcher-statue-at-a-cost-of-100k-9143211/

theartfullodger

When you were considering purchasing the property you had the time and opportunity to establish probable council tax costs, but presumably decided not to bother 

Tory massive reductions of grants to councils have forced councils to find other sources of income to keep essential services such as bins, child services, adult care.  The issue is with Bozo and his chums, not the councils.

I too had to evaluate options for 100% premium on council tax but decided against it.

Your money, your choice, your vote.

AdrianC

Moderne said:

Sorry - not read all the comments in this thread. I, too, am being threatened with a Council Tax Premium of 100% on my one-bedroomed cottage in Powys. I suppose I should be thankful that I'm still alive, but - bearing in mind I've been forbidden from visiting this property for much of the year - I was wondering whether anyone else had inquired about the possibility of a 'rebate' on some of the £1000s  paid to some Welsh County Councils. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of affordable housing in the area and, when we are allowed to visit, my wife and I go there every weekend and for longer periods during the Christmas, Easter and summer breaks. We've spent a fair amount of money on local hospitality/home improvements etc. (when we're not bathing in champagne and pulped £50 notes!!). Oddly enough, Powys County Council said "No" when I asked them this question a while back. I have now written to my MP...

I presume you've read this...?
https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/3079/Council-Tax-Premiums

I presume your property is a "periodically occupied property", furnished? It looks to me that it should be subject to a 50% premium, not 100%. But that will be going up to 75% from next year, after the proposal to take it to 100% was defeated.
https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/18748444.powys-holiday-home-owners-face-council-tax-hike/

100% premium would only apply if the property is unfurnished.

If you think that there's no shortage of affordable housing in Powys, I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken. And, no, you have not been "forbidden from visiting", not unless you live in an area that's been in a higher tier, which is hardly Powys's fault. Powys has been open for business for much of the year, with lower restrictions than just over the border.

Moderne

Well that didn't take long, did it?! I thought this was 'forums.moneysavingexpert.com', not 'one-nil-to-me.smartalectrollsofthe worldunite.com'! When I was considering purchasing the property, there was no evidence of a proposal to raise the council tax premium to 100%, Mr artfullodger. Nor was it evident that in the future the country was going to be engulfed in a pandemic and that prospective purchasers would be forbidden from visiting their one-bedroomed cottages - on which they were expected to pay £300+ a month - for months at a time! And I have contacted local councillors, Mr davidmcn. If these are the 'helpful' replies I shudder to think what the 'unhelpful' ones will be like.

AdrianC

Woah, calm down, Moderne!

Local authorities in Wales have been legally allowed to charge CT premiums of up to 100% on periodically occupied properties  since the start of 2016.
https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-06/council-tax-on-empty-and-second-homes.pdf
(England's no different, btw.)

If you're paying £300+/mo, £3,600+/year, I guess the property is in one of the higher-precept Band D areas?
https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/1020/Council-Tax-Charges-by-area
But, as we've already discussed, it should be 50% not 100%, assuming it's furnished, so that £300+ would be for a Band E property?

I'm still not quite sure what the pandemic has to do with this. Perhaps you could clarify why you've been "forbidden" from visiting, as opposed to personally unwilling? Unless, of course, it's because of restrictions wherever you live the rest of the time?
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/health/coronavirus-covid19/2020/07/09/police-urge-visitors-to-stay-safe-and-respect-wales-as-travel-ban-is-lifted/
Or, indeed, why you think that should somehow exempt you from the running costs of the property?

davidmcn

AdrianC said:

I'm still not quite sure what the pandemic has to do with this. Perhaps you could clarify why you've been "forbidden" from visiting, as opposed to personally unwilling? 

Visiting holiday homes has been prohibited during both the original lockdown period and the more recent Welsh "firebreak" period.

AdrianC

davidmcn said:

AdrianC said:

I'm still not quite sure what the pandemic has to do with this. Perhaps you could clarify why you've been "forbidden" from visiting, as opposed to personally unwilling? 

Visiting holiday homes has been prohibited during both the original lockdown period and the more recent Welsh "firebreak" period.

But allowed since the lifting of the original lockdown at the start of July, with the exception of the two-week firebreak at the end of October, start of November.

CIS

Moderne said:

Sorry - not read all the comments in this thread. I, too, am being threatened with a Council Tax Premium of 100% on my one-bedroomed cottage in Powys. I suppose I should be thankful that I'm still alive, but - bearing in mind I've been forbidden from visiting this property for much of the year - I was wondering whether anyone else had inquired about the possibility of a 'rebate' on some of the £1000s  paid to some Welsh County Councils. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of affordable housing in the area and, when we are allowed to visit, my wife and I go there every weekend and for longer periods during the Christmas, Easter and summer breaks. We've spent a fair amount of money on local hospitality/home improvements etc. (when we're not bathing in champagne and pulped £50 notes!!). Oddly enough, Powys County Council said "No" when I asked them this question a while back. I have now written to my MP...

You'll not get a rebate unless the council decide to make a discretionary one. The legislation covering the premium allows the council some leeway to alter the % rate for different groups of properties which fall under the Act (taking in to account anything the Ministers have chosen to set themselves centrally) but any rate must be set prior to the start of the year. That last point alone would appear to rule out a retrospective drop.