Council tax

lucyowen

Hi I was hoping someone could help me, I have rented out my property to an estate agent last year first everything was going fine the agent put tenants in but after numerous complaints from the neighbours I asked the agent to do something about this and after a while the agent informed me that the matter is resolved and that the tenants have been removed from the property on numerous times I asked her if I could see the property but everytime she threatened me that I am breaching the contract so I left it as I didn’t want to get in trouble with the law now today I found out that my property had a cannabis grow i notified the agent ASAP she agreed to meet me but of no avail and luck she did not attend and only corresponded to me by message on WhatsApps she had not called me to discuss this no one from the agent called me to discuss this 
the other thing is the council tax has not been paid can someone please advice me as I don’t know what to do can someone please tell this is still in contract and if the agent is liable for this 
kind regards 

Slithery

The agent is never liable for council tax, whoever is living in the property is. If there are no tenants then it's your liability. Did you notify the council when the tenants moved in? I'm guessing you must have if they stopped billing you at any point.

MaryNB

Were the tenants on a joint contract? If so they are liable for the duration of their tenancy.

If they were on separate contracts you are liable. 

AdrianC

lucyowen said:

I have rented out my property to an estate agent last year

TO an EA?

The EA is your tenant, and sub-let to the occupant?

Or you've rented through an EA, and the occupants are your tenants?

lucyowen

This is through an estate agent 

lucyowen

I assumed that the agent would have noticed the council of this this was not mentioned to me 

MaryNB

lucyowen said:

I assumed that the agent would have noticed the council of this this was not mentioned to me 

If your tenants were on a joint tenancy just make their period of liability (i.e. their tenancy dates) clear to the council. They'll have to chase the tenants for it. You will only be liable for periods when there is no tenancy in place.

If they were on separate tenancies (i.e. each renting rooms rather than renting the property as a group) you are liable. Doesn't matter what your letting agent did or didn't do. Council won't care they just want their tax paid asap. 

lucyowen

The agent always threatened me
that I would be breaching the contract she never allowed me to inspect the property she said to me that she will take care of all the legal sides and notify the council about the tenants 

lucyowen

So I left everything in her hands being assured that she would notify the relevant people about the change of circumstances 

MaryNB

Were they on the same tenancy agreement or not?

If it was a joint tenancy it was the tenant's responsibility to set up account, not the letting agent's. Nothing to do with you or the letting agent. You only need to be clear to the council about your period of liability outside of the tenancy.

If there were separate agreements while you can delegate setting up the account to your letting agent, as far as the council are concerned you are liable for payment. Any issue you have with your agent is not their problem and they won't care or want to know. 

ETA:

lucyowen said:

The agent always threatened me
that I would be breaching the contract she never allowed me to inspect the property she said to me that she will take care of all the legal sides and notify the council about the tenants 

Just because she says she'll take care of the legal aspects it doesn't absolve you of any legal obligations. You will still be held legally liable for any issues that arise. If your letting agent fails to adhere to the contractual arrangement that's an issue between you and your agent. You will still be held liable for any legal or financial obligations that apply to you as the landlord

CIS

lucyowen said:

Hi I was hoping someone could help me, I have rented out my property to an estate agent last year first everything was going fine the agent put tenants in but after numerous complaints from the neighbours I asked the agent to do something about this and after a while the agent informed me that the matter is resolved and that the tenants have been removed from the property on numerous times I asked her if I could see the property but everytime she threatened me that I am breaching the contract so I left it as I didn’t want to get in trouble with the law now today I found out that my property had a cannabis grow i notified the agent ASAP she agreed to meet me but of no avail and luck she did not attend and only corresponded to me by message on WhatsApps she had not called me to discuss this no one from the agent called me to discuss this 
the other thing is the council tax has not been paid can someone please advice me as I don’t know what to do can someone please tell this is still in contract and if the agent is liable for this 
kind regards 

Ultimately neither party has a legal obligation to inform the council tax that there's a new tenant (with few exceptions). This is why the council can backdate their assessment to ensure the records are correct.

Liability, who will pay, depends on the determination under s6 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (unless it falls to be a council tax HMO via s9 LGFA 1992).

I note that you state "I have rented out my property to an estate agent last year" rather than "...rented out my property via an estate agent last year" - What was the nature of the agreement with the estate agent? Did you actually lease it to the agents or did the agents just find & manage tenants for you?