Council Tax and Landlord Problems

Quietearth

My landlord pays my Council Tax (I rent a house and am the sole occupant) and then I pay him when he hands me my monthly bill.  I have a number of queries first, is the landlord obliged by law to pass the new April £150 rebate on to me?  And second how can I be sure that he is giving me the 25% sole occupancy Council Tax rebate? Also am I liable by law for any Council Tax arrears that might arise?  And how can I be certain he is paying the tax?  Thank you.

molerat

What type of property do you live in ?

In most cases you, as the tenant, would be the one responsible for the council tax and if it is not getting paid then you would be the one to get chased. If this is a normal single family occupancy property I suspect the LL is dodging tax or mortgage lenders rules so unless they are entitled to single person discount you won't be getting it nor are you likely to see the rebate.

CIS

Quietearth said:

My landlord pays my Council Tax (I rent a house and am the sole occupant) and then I pay him when he hands me my monthly bill.  I have a number of queries first, is the landlord obliged by law to pass the new April £150 rebate on to me?  And second how can I be sure that he is giving me the 25% sole occupancy Council Tax rebate? Also am I liable by law for any Council Tax arrears that might arise?  And how can I be certain he is paying the tax?  Thank you.

Do you rent the whole property and are you resident in it as your main home ?

Quietearth

Many thanks for your reply.  I'm certain that the Council Tax is being paid, but am concerned that the LL might be charging me the full amount and pocketing the 25% discount.  My figures seem to bear this out.  I rent the whole property, am a single occupant and it is my main/only home.  It is a band C property and is listed as a separate property on my local council website.  The landlord has several properties in the same area and uses the same system for all of them, ie, HE pays the council tax and energy and water bills and then invoices the tenant for rent and all these additional things, itemising them separately on the monthly bill, so I have a paper trail.  However can I insist that he gives me the £150 govt rebate and can I insist on seeing documentation to ascertain if he is claiming the 25% discount for my single occupancy?

CIS

HE pays the council tax and energy and water bills and then invoices the tenant for rent and all these additional things

It's not his decision to make - it's solely a matter of legislation.

What tends to happen is the landlord is trying to dodge something and you get caught up.

If you should be liable, which is most likely the case on what you have posted, then when the council find out you get the backdated bill, any monies paid by the landlord are refunded to him when the incorrect acct is deleted, and you get chased by the council for the monies - this happens far more often than people think, and often to the tune of many thousands of pounds (I've personally dealt with cases that are £5k or above on more than one occasion).

You really need to speak to the council about the situation and get them to check it.