Paying long term vacant council tax fees during a pandemic

Hasbeen

d4rr3n said:

HampshireH said:

Obviously we don't have all the details.

But if your income has been reduced it would suggest furlough or reduced hours or self employed and reduced custom.

If anyone of those still apply could you fit in a second job to help cover costs?

Will have to either get a second job or move in I guess, to be honest probably going to be easier to fix a room up and move in. Do it up gradually room by room whilst living there. When I purchased it I thought I might qualify for a council loan but didn't workout like that

Yes been there done that! It is a good incentive staying in a property that needs lots of work to actually do the work.

But this should have happened on purchase a few years back. All that rent money etc, wasted! 

You purchased your last house in 2001 for £470000 mortgage paid off and sold last year, at what I would assume at a good profit, as you are now renting?

Did you spend the whole  selling price on your new property? Did you leave yourself anything to at least start renovations now?

Just how bad is the property you bought? If it has a toilet, electricity, I would definitely move in ASAP!

d4rr3n

Hasbeen said:

d4rr3n said:

HampshireH said:

Obviously we don't have all the details.

But if your income has been reduced it would suggest furlough or reduced hours or self employed and reduced custom.

If anyone of those still apply could you fit in a second job to help cover costs?

Will have to either get a second job or move in I guess, to be honest probably going to be easier to fix a room up and move in. Do it up gradually room by room whilst living there. When I purchased it I thought I might qualify for a council loan but didn't workout like that

Yes been there done that! It is a good incentive staying in a property that needs lots of work to actually do the work.

But this should have happened on purchase a few years back. All that rent money etc, wasted! 

You purchased your last house in 2001 for £470000 mortgage paid off and sold last year, at what I would assume at a good profit, as you are now renting?

Did you spend the whole  selling price on your new property? Did you leave yourself anything to at least start renovations now?

Just how bad is the property you bought? If it has a toilet, electricity, I would definitely move in ASAP!

Yeah outside it looks ok but inside it looks like a bomb went off, total mess. It was full of junk literally 5 grab wagons of junk I removed from the house and garden. Started gutting downstairs in January. I could probably get upstairs into a liveable condition in a few months.

HampshireH

d4rr3n said:

SpiderLegs said:

d4rr3n said:

I was saving money to do it up until this pandemic hit. My plan was to move in since I am currently renting. I have not become jobless but like most people my income is much reduced. 

That plan was illogical. saving money by paying rent whilst maintaining another empty property?
How much have you saved up in the few years you have owned this house?
presumably quite a bit. Your income has only taken a hit in the last nine months so I don’t see how you can blame a pandemic for this.

The house needs quite a bit of work. To be precise I am not renting rather I rented out my home and have been staying in a room within that property so to save up. I have saved up but not enough to do the house up but probably have enough to make it liveable for myself. Will just have to live in it as I do it up.

So it is a second property? You live in your main property and receive an income from lodgers?

You haven't wasted money on rent since buying it.

The council are less likely to assist if this is the case as the second home is a luxury. Sounds like you are moving in!

You will need to make sure your lodgers want to become tenants and ensure you follow all the rules of being a landlord for the home you leave behind.

Make sure you have enough in reserves to cover any void period and get the most suitable insurance.

Thrugelmir

d4rr3n said:

SpiderLegs said:

d4rr3n said:

I was saving money to do it up until this pandemic hit. My plan was to move in since I am currently renting. I have not become jobless but like most people my income is much reduced. 

That plan was illogical. saving money by paying rent whilst maintaining another empty property?
How much have you saved up in the few years you have owned this house?
presumably quite a bit. Your income has only taken a hit in the last nine months so I don’t see how you can blame a pandemic for this.

The house needs quite a bit of work. To be precise I am not renting rather I rented out my home and have been staying in a room within that property so to save up. I have saved up but not enough to do the house up but probably have enough to make it liveable for myself. Will just have to live in it as I do it up.

That's the downside of leveraging up.  Not the Council's issue. You need to make the decision that's best for you.  Why not sell your rented home and release the equity? 

mattyprice4004

You bought an expensive 2nd home to renovate - the council didn’t force you at gunpoint. 

It is harsh, but the reality is the council didn’t put you in this position - it’s unfortunate, but owning multiple homes isn’t a cheap exercise. 

Councils don’t suddenly need less funding during a pandemic; quite the opposite - so they won’t be granting free periods to anyone. 

CIS

d4rr3n said:

I purchased a rundown house a few years ago that needs alot of work and the council are now charging me huge long term unoccupied council tax fees putting me under severe stress during this pandemic. I dont have the money at the moment to revamp the house and obviously selling during this time would be bad. I want to know if it is legal for the council to be putting me under financial stress by charging increased council tax charges during a pandemic when most are facing unemployment, reduced income and under financial stress? I may have to move into the property even though the conditions are not good just so they will be forced to change the status to occupied. Basically they are forcing me to live in bad conditions. Even if it is not unlawful to be putting me under financial stress during a pandemic I feel it is morally wrong, unthinking, heartless people!

A premium can legally be charged, Covid (or your financial situation) has no bearing on the premium. The only question is whether or not the premium is correctly being charged.

d4rr3n

Thrugelmir said:

d4rr3n said:

SpiderLegs said:

d4rr3n said:

I was saving money to do it up until this pandemic hit. My plan was to move in since I am currently renting. I have not become jobless but like most people my income is much reduced. 

That plan was illogical. saving money by paying rent whilst maintaining another empty property?
How much have you saved up in the few years you have owned this house?
presumably quite a bit. Your income has only taken a hit in the last nine months so I don’t see how you can blame a pandemic for this.

The house needs quite a bit of work. To be precise I am not renting rather I rented out my home and have been staying in a room within that property so to save up. I have saved up but not enough to do the house up but probably have enough to make it liveable for myself. Will just have to live in it as I do it up.

That's the downside of leveraging up.  Not the Council's issue. You need to make the decision that's best for you.  Why not sell your rented home and release the equity? 

I dont think selling now would be a good idea do you?

d4rr3n

mattyprice4004 said:

You bought an expensive 2nd home to renovate - the council didn’t force you at gunpoint. 

It is harsh, but the reality is the council didn’t put you in this position - it’s unfortunate, but owning multiple homes isn’t a cheap exercise. 

Councils don’t suddenly need less funding during a pandemic; quite the opposite - so they won’t be granting free periods to anyone. 

You haven't understood. I am not looking to pay no council tax the thing is they increase it so you pay more when it is unoccupied and increasing a persons council tax during the current situation causes stress as you can imagine.  

d4rr3n

CIS said:

d4rr3n said:

I purchased a rundown house a few years ago that needs alot of work and the council are now charging me huge long term unoccupied council tax fees putting me under severe stress during this pandemic. I dont have the money at the moment to revamp the house and obviously selling during this time would be bad. I want to know if it is legal for the council to be putting me under financial stress by charging increased council tax charges during a pandemic when most are facing unemployment, reduced income and under financial stress? I may have to move into the property even though the conditions are not good just so they will be forced to change the status to occupied. Basically they are forcing me to live in bad conditions. Even if it is not unlawful to be putting me under financial stress during a pandemic I feel it is morally wrong, unthinking, heartless people!

A premium can legally be charged, Covid (or your financial situation) has no bearing on the premium. The only question is whether or not the premium is correctly being charged.

Thanks for that, I will check with them!

HampshireH

d4rr3n said:

mattyprice4004 said:

You bought an expensive 2nd home to renovate - the council didn’t force you at gunpoint. 

It is harsh, but the reality is the council didn’t put you in this position - it’s unfortunate, but owning multiple homes isn’t a cheap exercise. 

Councils don’t suddenly need less funding during a pandemic; quite the opposite - so they won’t be granting free periods to anyone. 

You haven't understood. I am not looking to pay no council tax the thing is they increase it so you pay more when it is unoccupied and increasing a persons council tax during the current situation causes stress as you can imagine.  

They increase it to incentivise homes being occupied and not left to rot/ be expensive show pieces (spending on area/owner etc).

Often you get the first 6 months to a year before it doubles but it does depend on the council 

They haven't increased it due to Covid. But due to Covid they will need to recoup it more than ever.
 
They aren't a charity if they don't increase it on empty properties they would probably increase everyone's to cover it which really isn't fair