Ending tenancy notice period and council tax query

Mr.Generous

I'm puzzled by this, the tenant still has a tenancy agreement in place and access to/use of the property, the landlord cant let it to anyone else as its the tenants, all be it under notice. I can't see how the landlord is liable for council tax.

The fact that you move out while still under tenancy is a bit like saying "But I'm not living in my second property at the moment" and thinking that you won't get charged council tax.

Unless your initial tenancy was LESS than 6 months

The ruling says ...

Where the tenants vacate but they still have an ongoing tenancy (signed for a period of 6 month or more and which is still within the fixed term or the fixed term has ended and the tenancy continues under a contractual agreement) then the tenants retain the ‘material interest’ after vacation. They are regarded as the ‘non-resident owners’ for Council Tax purposes. The ‘non-resident owners’ are responsible for the Council Tax charge, even when not resident, until the end of the tenancy.

RAS

Go to the website for your deposit scheme and claim back your full deposit. If the LL/EA try to claim the CT from the deposit, refer the scheme to the info CIS provided previously.

It wuold obviously have been in the LL's interest to agree an early surrender as they could have re-let quickly but that's under the bridge.....

canaldumidi

So the LL/agent is proposing a deduction from your deposit. Are they? does deposit cover what they are claiming? Or are they alo proposing a court claim?

Since you disagree with the proposed deduction you should

a) tell them, in writing and

b) raise a dispute with the deposit company

If the LL/agent has served court papers, then deny liability and enter your defence.

firsttimebuyer15

Mr.Generous said:

I'm puzzled by this, the tenant still has a tenancy agreement in place and access to/use of the property, the landlord cant let it to anyone else as its the tenants, all be it under notice. I can't see how the landlord is liable for council tax.

The fact that you move out while still under tenancy is a bit like saying "But I'm not living in my second property at the moment" and thinking that you won't get charged council tax.

The ruling says ...

Where the tenants vacate but they still have an ongoing tenancy (signed for a period of 6 month or more and which is still within the fixed term or the fixed term has ended and the tenancy continues under a contractual agreement) then the tenants retain the ‘material interest’ after vacation. They are regarded as the ‘non-resident owners’ for Council Tax purposes. The ‘non-resident owners’ are responsible for the Council Tax charge, even when not resident, until the end of the tenancy.

You've quoted the wrong bit, the bit that applies to a rolling monthly contract is below.

• If the fixed term of the tenancy was not for a period of 6 months or more (or the fixed term, of 6 months or more, has ended and the tenancy passed to a periodic monthly tenancy), then the Council Tax liability ends when the tenants vacate. The tenants can not be regarded as the ‘non-resident owners’ and therefore cease to be liable on vacation. This means that the Council Tax liability had ended even where the actual rental liability continued.

firsttimebuyer15

RAS said:

Go to the website for your deposit scheme and claim back your full deposit. If the LL/EA try to claim the CT from the deposit, refer the scheme to the info CIS provided previously.

It wuold obviously have been in the LL's interest to agree an early surrender as they could have re-let quickly but that's under the bridge.....

canaldumidi said:

So the LL/agent is proposing a deduction from your deposit. Are they? does deposit cover what they are claiming? Or are they alo proposing a court claim?

Since you disagree with the proposed deduction you should

a) tell them, in writing and

b) raise a dispute with the deposit company

If the LL/agent has served court papers, then deny liability and enter your defence.

thank you, I'll do this.

PRAISETHESUN

firsttimebuyer15 said:

Brie said:

firsttimebuyer15 said:

Brie said:

so you were there early in April and then left at some point.  did you tell them when you were leaving?  or just that you weren't renewing as of 15th June?

what you owe will depend on what you date you paid up to for tax and what date you actually left.  there is currently about 3 months between your first post and today so if you didn't pay anything then it's possible that something is owed.

Based on comments on the first page and the legal examples it seemed pretty clear to me that as soon as I vacated the property the council tax liability fell to the landlord. I gave them all the required notices at the required timings and kept them updated along the way.

It would fall to the landlord from the day following when you vacated.  You haven't said when that was.

I vacated 15th April and they want me to pay council tax from then to June 21st.

I suppose to be completely clear here - when you say "vacated", does that mean you removed all your belongings from the property, surrendered the keys, and your tenancy had ended? This could be either by you serving all your notices in line with your TA, or through mutual agreement with your LL. In that case your CT liability for the property should have ended when you "vacated".

The alternative situation is even though you've removed your belongings, the tenancy is still in effect - in which case you're liable for CT. The liability might be £0 if the council offers an empty home discount (not all councils do), but you could still be liable regardless. It's possible that the LL might be chasing you for a bill issued to them for the period where they believe you were responsible for it. I suspect this is when the above guidance you're quoting would apply to discount your CT liability and default it back to the LL.

If you've satisfied yourself that the demand is not something you're liable for, then dispute it as discussed above.

Brie

@CIS
I think you are the expert here.  I would believe the OP didn't need to pay the council but I'm guessing the landlord or their agent disagrees.  Is this something that would be noted in a tenancy agreement??

dimbo61

No

I doubt very much if any tenancy agreement has this in it.
Why would they as this does not happen very often.
When moving from one property to another tenants/home owners normally inform the council tax people on the day of the move.
Old Council Tax liability ends for one property and starts elsewhere for new property.

dimbo61

When you moved out did you inform the Council tax people that you no longer lived there and it was empty ?