Council tax letter from a shared house I rented 4 years ago?

newsgroupmonkey_

MaryNB said:

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

Robbo66 said:

Even though the CT was included in your rent the liability actually stays with the tenants. You and the other tenants will need to pay the council tax and then claim it back via the courts from the Landlord

That's not true in an HMO

https://www.northampton.gov.uk/info/200028/council-tax/2351/houses-in-multiple-occupancy-council-tax

I quote....
"The owner of the property is liable to pay Council Tax if you live in a house in multiple occupation (HMO)."

Robbo66 said:

Even though the CT was included in your rent the liability actually stays with the tenants. You and the other tenants will need to pay the council tax and then claim it back via the courts from the Landlord

To clarify because it's not clear in this thread, tenants in a HMO are not liable if the are on separate contracts, each renting just their room. If they are on joint tenancy for the entire property they are liable for council tax. 

Linking council tax liability to HMOs alone is misleading and leads to confusion. Liability depends on the type of tenancy they are on. 

And the Northants site does say that there is an exception if the tenants are on one contract.

But as the OP has said above, they had an individual room contract.

hussnainh8 said:

It was a individual room agreement 

Sorry to clarify I was renting a room not the house, my mistake for that

hussnainh8

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sxbdl5mjwk67eq0/received_999993843989151.jpeg?dl=0

This is the reply back I got from landlord. I wrote her an email stating I received the letter and that it's not my responsibility to pay for council tax and that other tenants also received the letter however she has sent me that reply back stating the VOA in 2021 decided each room had a individual council tax banding therefore there's more to pay?

Not an expert on it but it sounds like !!!!!! to me coming from her.....

hussnainh8

Not trying to be funny but what does VOA changing the council tax band in 2021 have anything to do with me when my tenancy ended in 2018 and I stopped renting the room by that time? I feel like she's just trying it to get me to pay it for her. 

MaryNB

hussnainh8 said:

Not trying to be funny but what does VOA changing the council tax band in 2021 have anything to do with me when my tenancy ended in 2018 and I stopped renting the room by that time? I feel like she's just trying it to get me to pay it for her. 

In your rental were you in a self contained part of the house (i.e. had your own bathroom and kitchen) or did you just rent a room and share facilities with others?

If the VOA gave each room a council tax banding it sounds like she did a dodgy conversion, changing her house to a number of self contained properties. 

FreeBear

MaryNB said:

hussnainh8 said:

Not trying to be funny but what does VOA changing the council tax band in 2021 have anything to do with me when my tenancy ended in 2018 and I stopped renting the room by that time? I feel like she's just trying it to get me to pay it for her. 

In your rental were you in a self contained part of the house (i.e. had your own bathroom and kitchen) or did you just rent a room and share facilities with others?

If the VOA gave each room a council tax banding it sounds like she did a dodgy conversion, changing her house to a number of self contained properties. 

That should be easy enough to check. Do a property search - https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

It won't say when the banding was introduced/changed, but will show if the LL is telling porkies.

GDB2222

hussnainh8 said:

Not trying to be funny but what does VOA changing the council tax band in 2021 have anything to do with me when my tenancy ended in 2018 and I stopped renting the room by that time? I feel like she's just trying it to get me to pay it for her. 

The Landlord  says that the VOA changed things retrospectively. And, the fact that the council has billed you rather backs that up. 

The email from your landlord says that you owe her rent, so she can reasonably offset that against whatever she owes you to cover what might indeed be a valid council tax bill.

 I suggest that you send the Landlord copies of the agreement and the ct bill.

hussnainh8

It is a room I was renting with shared facilities such as toilets, kitchen etc ... Just checked the council tax band and it says it came into place from August 2020 and it's band A.. I can't recall owing her any money as I had already paid the rents due so I don't know where she took that from and she could have kept my deposit if I owed her money but she didn't and this was over 4 years ago now so she can't expect me to remember anything about rent now. 

hussnainh8

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2lx0an0f6551f0n/screenshot_2022-05-04-15-01-46-37_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg?dl=0

Says from effect 1st April 2020..the part I don't understand is okay if they did a VOA on the house then fine however it's effective from April 2020 and I left the house by 2018 so why am I having to pay for it?

MaryNB

Sounds like its not your problem then. 

Just send her a concise message dismissing it as her problem, not yours. This change applies 2 years after you left and you do not owe any rent. If she pushes the rent issue just ask her for evidence. Looks like she converted the rooms to self contained units after you left. Maybe she's mixed you up with another former tenant. 

FreeBear

hussnainh8 said:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2lx0an0f6551f0n/screenshot_2022-05-04-15-01-46-37_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg?dl=0

Says from effect 1st April 2020..the part I don't understand is okay if they did a VOA on the house then fine however it's effective from April 2020 and I left the house by 2018 so why am I having to pay for it?

Looks like the room was band A back in 2017 - https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-council-tax-band/property/band-details/13000768000/513515194