Landlord includes Council Tax in rent. But flat is not listed for Council Tax

Sheailam

My son has been renting in London and was told that the Council Tax was included in the rent. We have looked on the council website and his flat is not on their site for council tax. We suspected that the flat was not "legal" so he left - mainly on H&S grounds. Should be no be entitled to the proportion of the rent that was supposed to be paying the council tax to be refunded?

SaintJudy

Up to you if you open that can of worms but surely then there's a risk he'll find himself liable for reassessed council tax and possibly a bigger bill? If the council tax has been paid I wouldn't worry about it.

lincroft1710

It sounds as if the flat was formed from part of the main house, but no building regs or planning permission were applied for. If the council find out about the flat and inform the Valuation Office then the CT band could be backdated and your son would be liable for the CT for the period of his occupation.

AlexMac

Assuming he was happy with the rent when he took on the flat, what's he hoping for?  Was there a breakdown of Rent - v - CT?  (Was CT even mentioned in the AST?) Cashback under the threat of legal action?  in what arena? Punitive action against a dodgy landlord?...

None of these likely to bring success, reward or happiness. Probably best left as a lesson learned; by him ...and you?  

theartfullodger

Even if not registered, flat an extension built with no planning permission or building regs sign off, the tenancy still stands, he owes the rent.  But grass Landlord up to council - also HMRC for tax:. As he's fiddling one thing, likely many things fiddled.

AdrianC

I suspect it was a part of another property, and CT (or maybe rates) were due on that.

If his CT hadn't been included, then it would have been registered separately.

CIS

Sheailam said:

My son has been renting in London and was told that the Council Tax was included in the rent. We have looked on the council website and his flat is not on their site for council tax. We suspected that the flat was not "legal" so he left - mainly on H&S grounds. Should be no be entitled to the proportion of the rent that was supposed to be paying the council tax to be refunded?

If it's sufficient to form a flat of it's own it means that the property has never been declared to the valuation office agency.

He could try and sue the landlord for the amount but, be aware, that once the valuation office agency become aware of the property there may well be a backdated council tax bill coming his way. That he agreed something with the landlord makes no difference at all to the council.
Where the landlord states that 'council tax is included' it's typically a red light. There are only a few, very specific situations, where the landlord is liable for the council tax charge, it's not something that landlord can decide on. 9 times out of 10 it's down to the landlord avoiding declaring the property.

greatcrested

So the rent was for for the property including CT.

The tenant received the property and no CT bill.

He got what he paid for, and has not been charged for anything he was not expecting.

Soundslike he now wants a freebie as well!

When he 'left', did he serve proper notice? If not, opening this can of worms might also open another can related to rent arrears due to insufficient notice....

Hannimal

What I am confused by is so many saying he'd own the council tax. If it is in your tenancy agreement that council tax is included in rent, how can you still be liable for council tax? Shouldn't the LL be liable?

AdrianC

Hannimal said:

What I am confused by is so many saying he'd own the council tax. If it is in your tenancy agreement that council tax is included in rent, how can you still be liable for council tax? Shouldn't the LL be liable?

The local authority don't care about the fine print of the tenancy contract.

The occupier is ahead of the landlord in the statutory list of who's legally responsible for CT.

MaryNB

Hannimal said:

What I am confused by is so many saying he'd own the council tax. If it is in your tenancy agreement that council tax is included in rent, how can you still be liable for council tax? Shouldn't the LL be liable?

There are rules of responsibility when in comes to paying council tax, regardless of what's in the tenancy agreement. The council will hold the tenants responsible unless they fall into one of the categories in the first list below.

From Citizens Advice:

Usually, the person living in a property will be the liable person, but sometimes it will be the owner of the property who will be liable to pay.

The owner will be liable if any of these are true:

• the property is in multiple occupation, for example, a house shared by a number of different households who all pay rent separately

• the people who live in the property are all under the age of 18

• the property is accommodation for asylum seekers

• the people who are staying in the property are there temporarily and have their main homes somewhere else

• the property is a care home, hospital, hostel or women's refuge

...

The hierarchy of liability is:

1. A resident owner-occupier who owns either the leasehold or freehold of all or part of the property.
2. A resident tenant.
3. A resident who lives in the property and who is a licensee - this means that they’re not a tenant, but have permission to stay there.
4. Any resident living in the property, for example, a squatter.
5. An owner of the property where no one is resident.