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

hussnainh8

I can't seem to see where it says HMO other than housing act 1988

GDB2222

hussnainh8 said:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p661v5kriwr21kl/img_20220505_101936.jpg?dl=0

That's a copy of tenancy agreement... My agreement is exactly the same ones I figure out where I have left mine, this is the other tenants agreement which I have uploaded

Does that link just show the front page?

MaryNB

hussnainh8 said:

I can't seem to see where it says HMO other than housing act 1988

It says the agreement is for  "Room 2 and communal areas" which would be a good indication that you were only renting a room, not an entire property and therefore the landlord is responsible for council tax.

lincroft1710

MaryNB said:

lincroft1710 said:

hussnainh8 said:

The house has always been band A since it was built... My agreement states the landlord will cover the council tax...lady over the phone advised me to take all documents I have and take them to the council to show

It doesn't really matter what your rental agreement says, in law you are responsible for the CT for the period you were the occupier. 

https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/who-is-liable

The OP had a tenancy agreement for a room in an HMO and shared facilities with others which would make the landlord liable. If the council gave the OP's room it's own banding while the OP was still there and sharing facilities with others it seems it was  done in error. 

The room was separately assessed for CT with effect from 1 April 2017 to 22 July 2018, if the OP was resident in the room for any period between those dates, she is liable for the CT for that period. The Valuation Office Agency deal with CT banding, not the council. If the band was allocated in error then the effective date of deletion would have been 1 April 2017, not 22 July 2018. Having the same effective date for both entry into and deletion from the Valuation List would show there should not have been an entry for that particular dwelling. But as the dates are different it was appear the room was not entered in error.  


The room was again separately assessed with an effective date of 1 April 2020 as were the other 4 rooms. It seems that there were appeals against the separate assessments of all 5 rooms, but the Valuation Tribunal confirmed that separate banding for all 5 was correct.

GDB2222

lincroft1710 said:

MaryNB said:

lincroft1710 said:

hussnainh8 said:

The house has always been band A since it was built... My agreement states the landlord will cover the council tax...lady over the phone advised me to take all documents I have and take them to the council to show

It doesn't really matter what your rental agreement says, in law you are responsible for the CT for the period you were the occupier. 

https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/who-is-liable

The OP had a tenancy agreement for a room in an HMO and shared facilities with others which would make the landlord liable. If the council gave the OP's room it's own banding while the OP was still there and sharing facilities with others it seems it was  done in error. 

The room was separately assessed for CT with effect from 1 April 2017 to 22 July 2018, if the OP was resident in the room for any period between those dates, she is liable for the CT for that period. The Valuation Office Agency deal with CT banding, not the council. If the band was allocated in error then the effective date of deletion would have been 1 April 2017, not 22 July 2018. Having the same effective date for both entry into and deletion from the Valuation List would show there should not have been an entry for that particular dwelling. But as the dates are different it was appear the room was not entered in error.  


The room was again separately assessed with an effective date of 1 April 2020 as were the other 4 rooms. It seems that there were appeals against the separate assessments of all 5 rooms, but the Valuation Tribunal confirmed that separate banding for all 5 was correct.

If the room is self contained, ie it has it's own bathroom and kitchen, would that be enough to get it separately assessed? 

"Room 2 and communal areas" - could this just refer to the room plus corridors?

lincroft1710

GDB2222 said:

lincroft1710 said:

MaryNB said:

lincroft1710 said:

hussnainh8 said:

The house has always been band A since it was built... My agreement states the landlord will cover the council tax...lady over the phone advised me to take all documents I have and take them to the council to show

It doesn't really matter what your rental agreement says, in law you are responsible for the CT for the period you were the occupier. 

https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/who-is-liable

The OP had a tenancy agreement for a room in an HMO and shared facilities with others which would make the landlord liable. If the council gave the OP's room it's own banding while the OP was still there and sharing facilities with others it seems it was  done in error. 

The room was separately assessed for CT with effect from 1 April 2017 to 22 July 2018, if the OP was resident in the room for any period between those dates, she is liable for the CT for that period. The Valuation Office Agency deal with CT banding, not the council. If the band was allocated in error then the effective date of deletion would have been 1 April 2017, not 22 July 2018. Having the same effective date for both entry into and deletion from the Valuation List would show there should not have been an entry for that particular dwelling. But as the dates are different it was appear the room was not entered in error.  


The room was again separately assessed with an effective date of 1 April 2020 as were the other 4 rooms. It seems that there were appeals against the separate assessments of all 5 rooms, but the Valuation Tribunal confirmed that separate banding for all 5 was correct.

If the room is self contained, ie it has it's own bathroom and kitchen, would that be enough to get it separately assessed? 

"Room 2 and communal areas" - could this just refer to the room plus corridors?

Being self contained is the main reason for separate assessment. "Communal areas" could easily be corridors

hussnainh8

So I'm guessing I am liable to pay the council tax then as I still don't understand any of it. The room itself does not have a kitchen or bathroom.. it was just a room with a bed .. I have to go out of the room to access the toilet and downstairs to access the kitchen.. toilets and kitchen where all shared facilities 

GDB2222

hussnainh8 said:

So I'm guessing I am liable to pay the council tax then as I still don't understand any of it. The room itself does not have a kitchen or bathroom.. it was just a room with a bed .. I have to go out of the room to access the toilet and downstairs to access the kitchen.. toilets and kitchen where all shared facilities 

I fail to see how it can be anything other than an HMO?

HampshireH

Have you spoken to the council yet?

GDB2222

HampshireH said:

Have you spoken to the council yet?

I agree. If necessary, the op should make a formal complaint to the council. This will put a hold on any enforcement action by the council, which buys her a little time. It also means that the whole thing gets looked at properly by someone at the council with their brain switched on. So, she may get an explanation of what is going on.

She can also issue proceedings against the landlord. As she’s on benefits, she should not have to pay any court fees. 

Hopefully, the LL should pay this one way or another.