Council Tax for HMO 20 September 2021 at 2:43PM in Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc 4 replies 101 views

sukh38

Hi,

I have 3 students living in a 3 bedroom property on 2 tenancy agreements, from February they will no longer be students, within the tenancy agreement I have made it clear the council tax is the tenant's responsibility, will that be the case with my local authority, if the tenants don't pay the council tax. 

lincroft1710

If there is more than one tenancy then that suggests it may be an HMO for CT purposes and you would be responsible for the CT rather than your tenants,


The poster @CIS is far more knowledgeable in these matters and may disagree however.

CIS

sukh38 said:

Hi,

I have 3 students living in a 3 bedroom property on 2 tenancy agreements, from February they will no longer be students, within the tenancy agreement I have made it clear the council tax is the tenant's responsibility, will that be the case with my local authority, if the tenants don't pay the council tax. 

Multiple tenancies will put it under a Class C property for council tax, so a council tax HMO. You can't pass the actual liability on to the tenants as it would fall on to the landlord by law.

What you would need would be a clause in a tenancy to allow you to pursue the tenants, contractually, for any costs that you incur. If you don't already have this clause then you can cannot simply introduce it to an existing tenancy without the agreement of the tenants in varying the existing terms.

sukh38

CIS said:

sukh38 said:

Hi,

I have 3 students living in a 3 bedroom property on 2 tenancy agreements, from February they will no longer be students, within the tenancy agreement I have made it clear the council tax is the tenant's responsibility, will that be the case with my local authority, if the tenants don't pay the council tax. 

Multiple tenancies will put it under a Class C property for council tax, so a council tax HMO. You can't pass the actual liability on to the tenants as it would fall on to the landlord by law.

What you would need would be a clause in a tenancy to allow you to pursue the tenants, contractually, for any costs that you incur. If you don't already have this clause then you can cannot simply introduce it to an existing tenancy without the agreement of the tenants in varying the existing terms.

Thanks I do have it, my aim was to have them legally liable but I guess I will advise them that they will be liable or move new students in when their tennacy expires.

CIS

sukh38 said:

CIS said:

sukh38 said:

Hi,

I have 3 students living in a 3 bedroom property on 2 tenancy agreements, from February they will no longer be students, within the tenancy agreement I have made it clear the council tax is the tenant's responsibility, will that be the case with my local authority, if the tenants don't pay the council tax. 

Multiple tenancies will put it under a Class C property for council tax, so a council tax HMO. You can't pass the actual liability on to the tenants as it would fall on to the landlord by law.

What you would need would be a clause in a tenancy to allow you to pursue the tenants, contractually, for any costs that you incur. If you don't already have this clause then you can cannot simply introduce it to an existing tenancy without the agreement of the tenants in varying the existing terms.

Thanks I do have it, my aim was to have them legally liable but I guess I will advise them that they will be liable or move new students in when their tennacy expires.

The landlord would remain liable for the council tax charge and would then need to recover the costs from the tenant.