COUNCIL TAX FOR A RENTED ROOM IN AN HMO (House in Multiple Occupation)

JulieDH

lincroft1710 said:

JulieDH said:

macman said:

lincroft1710 said:

macman said:

She must speak to the LL, and find out what has triggered this, and seek an immediate rent reduction to reflect the proportion of CT that he was charging on top of the rent.

As there was apparently no mention of CT in the tenancy agreement, I would put money on the LL saying that the rent did not include an element for CT.  

Very likely, but the tenants have nothing to lose by asking.

Thank you for all your comments.  My daughter contacted the landlord and, despite there being no mention of council tax in her tenancy agreement, he has agreed to lower her rent by £50 per month.  This means that, if she gets the SPD, she will be paying £25 per month more than she is at the moment.  She is happy with that as she didn't expect the landlord to do anything about it.  Thank you everyone for all your input.  It just shows it is always worth asking.

That has restored my faith in humanity! Is he backdating the rent decrease?

That was too much to ask - he has backdated it to 1st September which is the start of her new contract.

JulieDH

• An update to my daughter's situation.  Her e-mail to the VOA and their response.  She is going round in circles and getting nowhere. "I am writing at the advice of Sandwell council to request that the council tax liability be re-assessed for xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  This house is and has been a Licensed HMO for the whole time myself and my flat mate have lived there.  As i’m sure you are aware, as we do not live in self contained flats, the liability of council tax therefore lies with the owner of the HMO. I have attached the licence for your information. None of us are able to live in our rooms. We share living areas and kitchen and washing facilities.  The landlord is unaware why you would change liability as it is incorrect. Please rectify this as soon as possible."   "Thank you for your email dated 25 October 2022 which we received on 25 October 2022. You have informed us that the above properties have undergone alterations and the number of bands may change. You will need to contact your local council via their main switchboard and ask to speak to the relevant department regarding the type of change to your property. This allows the council to update the emergency services’ database and ensure they have the correct address for billing purposes. Contact information for your local council can be found on your council tax bill, or online at: www.gov.uk/find-local-council. The council will notify us of any change to your address. If we receive a request from the council to merge the addresses, we will update our records and send you formal notification of the change to the address. You also have the right to make a formal challenge. The form to do this can be found on our website at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-challenge-form  Yours sincerely Customer Service Centre"

  
  

lincroft1710

JulieDH said:

• An update to my daughter's situation.  Her e-mail to the VOA and their response.  She is going round in circles and getting nowhere. "I am writing at the advice of Sandwell council to request that the council tax liability be re-assessed for xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  None of us are able to live in our rooms. We share living areas and kitchen and washing facilities.

  
  

But your original post said she had an en suite, thus washing facilities would not be shared.


I thought we had established in earlier posts that as she and other tenants had their own en suites, the VOA were correct in creating separate CT bands for all the rooms. Therefore there was little point in her contacting the VOA. 

JulieDH

lincroft1710 said:

JulieDH said:

• An update to my daughter's situation.  Her e-mail to the VOA and their response.  She is going round in circles and getting nowhere. "I am writing at the advice of Sandwell council to request that the council tax liability be re-assessed for xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  None of us are able to live in our rooms. We share living areas and kitchen and washing facilities.

  
  

But your original post said she had an en suite, thus washing facilities would not be shared.


I thought we had established in earlier posts that as she and other tenants had their own en suites, the VOA were correct in creating separate CT bands for all the rooms. Therefore there was little point in her contacting the VOA. 

By washing facilities she meant the utility room where the washing machine and tumble dryer are kept.

She contacted the VOA because the landlord is saying that he knows absolutely nothing about the re-banding and she wanted to find out why it had been re-banded in January 2022 when she moved in in August 2021 and nothing has changed in that time.

lincroft1710

JulieDH said:

lincroft1710 said:

JulieDH said:

• An update to my daughter's situation.  Her e-mail to the VOA and their response.  She is going round in circles and getting nowhere. "I am writing at the advice of Sandwell council to request that the council tax liability be re-assessed for xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  None of us are able to live in our rooms. We share living areas and kitchen and washing facilities.

  
  

But your original post said she had an en suite, thus washing facilities would not be shared.


I thought we had established in earlier posts that as she and other tenants had their own en suites, the VOA were correct in creating separate CT bands for all the rooms. Therefore there was little point in her contacting the VOA. 

By washing facilities she meant the utility room where the washing machine and tumble dryer are kept.

She contacted the VOA because the landlord is saying that he knows absolutely nothing about the re-banding and she wanted to find out why it had been re-banded in January 2022 when she moved in in August 2021 and nothing has changed in that time.

Clothes washing is not one of the criteria necessary for a separate banding


Her e-mail mentions nothing about dates. If she starts telling the VOA she moved into the room in Aug 2021, the VOA could well backdate the effective date to Aug 2021 and thus be charged CT from that date


The LL should have received a notice deleting the house from CT banding, but if the VOA had no address for the LL other than the house itself, that is where the notice would be sent. Also he would no longer be receiving a bill for the house from the council. He is not entitled to receive details of the individual room bandings.