Empty property Councill Tax premium

WindsorKnot

Hi - I'm a forum Newbie looking for some advice. We bought a property in June that had been empty for some time. As it turns out, 15 years. So you can imagine it needs one or 2 things doing to it. As we had some immediate work that needed addressing (leaking roof, damp, replastering etc) we couldn't move in straight away and are only just getting to that point. We told the council it was empty from June until November and they have come back and hit us with a massive premium based on the fact we said it was unoccupied. However this is because they say the furniture wasn't in, but we did have a few things such as a sofa, bed and  few basics so that we could stay over from time to time. The premium is 300% of normal payments from June to November as it had been empty, prior to us buying it, for over 10 years. I feel this is very unfair that we are paying a massive premium based on the previous owner leaving it empty. Does anyone have any experience of this and whether we can successfully appeal? An extra £2k on the first 5 months is eye watering at the moment. 

lincroft1710

I would have to check what the actual legislation says as the gov. website is ambiguous. If the legislation says "the dwelling" rather than "your home" being empty for 10 years or more, then the council are correct. If it says "your home" then you could argue the property has only been your home for 5 months.

diystarter7

"empty" meaning not a main house for anyone, hence the bill?

Years ago we were undecided if to live in a property or rent out as one T left - we dragged our feet for 6 months before it was rented out again by doing bits ourselves here and there after work. We were pleasantly surprised that our council tax was massively reduced. This no longer happens as it is not longer under the same political flag.

lincroft1710

Sorry but having looked at the legislation, it doesn't seem to help

Tbagtel

WindsorKnot said:

Hi - I'm a forum Newbie looking for some advice. We bought a property in June that had been empty for some time. As it turns out, 15 years. So you can imagine it needs one or 2 things doing to it. As we had some immediate work that needed addressing (leaking roof, damp, replastering etc) we couldn't move in straight away and are only just getting to that point. We told the council it was empty from June until November and they have come back and hit us with a massive premium based on the fact we said it was unoccupied. However this is because they say the furniture wasn't in, but we did have a few things such as a sofa, bed and  few basics so that we could stay over from time to time. The premium is 300% of normal payments from June to November as it had been empty, prior to us buying it, for over 10 years. I feel this is very unfair that we are paying a massive premium based on the previous owner leaving it empty. Does anyone have any experience of this and whether we can successfully appeal? An extra £2k on the first 5 months is eye watering at the moment. 

I'm fighting this at the moment with my local council, basically it's the property that is charged the premium and is forced on to the present owner regardless of period of ownership and according to my council there is no right of appeal, it doesnt end there though because you may be able to prove it is unoccupied but substantially furnished as there is no actual definiton in law but there is in government guide lines and the premium should end as soon as you officially move in