Council tax on empty property

MudHide

Hi, any advice please?
We lost our father on 3 February 2020, he was the second parent to go.
We cleared the house out and it was put on the market in July 2020 but we have so far been unable to sell it, partly (we believe) because it's a 'retirement property' and people of a certain age are reluctant to leave home at the moment.

We've currently got the property on with two different estate agents.

We've received a council tax bill as the property has been empty for more than 3 months, I've emailed the council to see if there is any discretion but was just looking for any further advice?

Many thanks

Martin

lincroft1710

Purely at the council's discretion if they grant a further exemption.  

justworriedabit

MudHide said:

Hi, any advice please?
We lost our father on 3 February 2020, he was the second parent to go.
We cleared the house out and it was put on the market in July 2020 but we have so far been unable to sell it, partly (we believe) because it's a 'retirement property' and people of a certain age are reluctant to leave home at the moment.

We've currently got the property on with two different estate agents.

We've received a council tax bill as the property has been empty for more than 3 months, I've emailed the council to see if there is any discretion but was just looking for any further advice?

Many thanks

Martin

Hiya
The coucil will do nothing for you regardless of which political persuasion they belong to.
We had our 2021/22 tax bill and its gone up massively as i guess all others have.
With respect you say you can't sell the property, just  take 20% off it and see it fly same day. 

Where we live years ago the local outfit allowed 6 months tax free if no one was living there and unfurnished and these days you get nothing other than possibly a few percent of the bill for it being empty for a few months.

pramsay13

You've hung onto a property for 9 months in the hope of getting a magical figure that you have in mind.
Unfortunately the longer you hold onto it the less likely you are to achieve that figure.
You now have the council tax bill on top, it is deliberately set up to deter people from hanging onto empty properties.
If you can prove you are actively trying to sell the property they might take pity on you but they don't have to.

justworriedabit

Mickey666 said:

justworriedabit said:

We had our 2021/22 tax bill and its gone up massively as i guess all others have.

Just had our 21/22 CT bill and it has gone up by about 4% which works out at about a tenner a month.
OK, a lot more than inflation but I wouldn't class it as going up "massively".

Ours has gone up by a little more than that but we see it as massively up. This is on the basis that the political party bangs on about the rate of inflation , pat rises, price of living indext yet every bill, coucil tax, tv licence, train tickets, etc etc seems to shoot up by massively more that the rate of inflation. Petrol prices have shot up as has food prices as there are hardly any offers in supermarkets. There I disagree and to you a tenner may not be a big deal but it all adds up for those that pay and not much better off money wise, disposable income having paid the mortgage, bills, food, travel, insurance, etc, etc.

p00hsticks

justworriedabit said:

MudHide said:

Hi, any advice please?
We lost our father on 3 February 2020, he was the second parent to go.
We cleared the house out and it was put on the market in July 2020 but we have so far been unable to sell it, partly (we believe) because it's a 'retirement property' and people of a certain age are reluctant to leave home at the moment.

We've currently got the property on with two different estate agents.

We've received a council tax bill as the property has been empty for more than 3 months, I've emailed the council to see if there is any discretion but was just looking for any further advice?

Many thanks

Martin

Where we live years ago the local outfit allowed 6 months tax free if no one was living there and unfurnished and these days you get nothing other than possibly a few percent of the bill for it being empty for a few months.

That's not true (assuming we're talking England here) if the property's empty because the owner/occupier is recently deceased.

The estate gets total exemption from council tax until probate is obtained, and potentially a further six months after that if the property remains unoccupied and in the name of the deceased.

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/second-homes-and-empty-properties

The OP's problem is that the property has now taken more than six months to sell....

Murphy_The_Cat

I have a house that I'm responsible for and the previous person living in it died in Dec 2020. The Council have sent a letter to me today to say that I won't be liable for Council Tax until Apr 2022 (unless someone else moves in), which seems quite generous from the Council. Exempt Class F - left empty by deceased person.

csgohan4

if a house isn't selling, it's likely due to the price. Drop it, or face further costs like council tax/maintenance which will eat into your perceived high figure

maxsteam

MudHide said:

We've received a council tax bill as the property has been empty for more than 3 months, I've emailed the council to see if there is any discretion but was just looking for any further advice?

You can stay in the property for a weekend and tell the council. This should reset the timing for the "empty property" status.

I agree with other posters that you should consider trying harder to sell it. This may involve reducing the price and/or smartening it up. There will be a council tax bill every year once you've gone past probate + 6 months.

jntlavin

i have bought a flat which is getting a refurbished, so empty for a couple of months do i still have to pay council tax there. 

Jeremy535897

Check the council's website.