As a renter in an Household of Multiple Occupancies - am I liable for council tax?

[Deleted User]

avocia said:

anselld said:

Firstly, liability to the Council is determined by the type of tenancy agreement.  The Council Tax definition of HMO differs from the Housing Act definition so that if you are in a "Joint and Several" tenancy with the other residents it is not an HMO for CT purposes.  If you have a joint tenancy then you are liable to the Council for CT.
If you have an individual room tenancy then the Landlord is liable to the Council.
So the first thing to check is how many tenants signed the agreement?

It's room only (you can see that hidden under the docusign text in the screenshot I attached. We all signed individual agreements and none of us had met before moving in.

The landlord is liable for council tax as it is a room only tenancy agreement on a HMO. 

However, if i were you, I would personally pay the council tax and negotiate then to move out early, as clearly I had would have entered the contract on the understanding i was a student, and now my change of status,  albeit unintentionally,  is resulting in additional cost for the other party to the contract.

avocia

[Deleted User] said:

avocia said:

anselld said:

Firstly, liability to the Council is determined by the type of tenancy agreement.  The Council Tax definition of HMO differs from the Housing Act definition so that if you are in a "Joint and Several" tenancy with the other residents it is not an HMO for CT purposes.  If you have a joint tenancy then you are liable to the Council for CT.
If you have an individual room tenancy then the Landlord is liable to the Council.
So the first thing to check is how many tenants signed the agreement?

It's room only (you can see that hidden under the docusign text in the screenshot I attached. We all signed individual agreements and none of us had met before moving in.

The landlord is liable for council tax as it is a room only tenancy agreement on a HMO. 

However, if i were you, I would personally pay the council tax and negotiate then to move out early, as clearly I had would have entered the contract on the understanding i was a student, and now my change of status,  albeit unintentionally,  is resulting in additional cost for the other party to the contract.

That's easy said, but as pre-reg optom I don't exactly earn stacks of cash. The amount of council tax payable is likely to be backdated to January as this is when I was formally no longer a student, and for a 3-storey 6-bed house with a double basement in central Manchester, I can see that being a pretty hefty bill and not one I can afford. Nor would it be reasonable for me to pay that, after all I occupy one tiny portion of the house. If it were a small/individual landlord I'd try to work something out with them as they would definitely feel the hit, but given this house is owned by a rather large rental business I'm quite happy to let them take a hit to their profits. If anything this should teach them a lesson in using generic rental agreements for every type of tenant, perhaps they'll alter their contracts for students in the future.

avocia

dimbo61 said:

I smiled when I read your post.
I am a student Landlord of a HMO in Manchester.
We require our student groups to complete the online " student exemption form with Manchester City Council " when they first sign up as they have University numbers.
All tenancies are Joint and Several 
Never ever in all the time we have been Landlords have the council tax people asked us to confirm that our tenants are still students in January or April.
So who told the Lettings Agents that your no longer a student ?
Has the Council tax office been informed your no longer a student ? and sent you a council tax demand for 75% of the council tax from when you dropped out of your course ? With your name on the demand !
PS we also state in the signed addendum that if a student drops out of his/her course that they are responsible for any council tax payments incurred.

PPS, Landlords and Letting Agents cannot access the Manchester City council tax website to check if your no longer a student data protection laws so Again who informed the Lettings agents.

I very much doubt that the University will be sending out emails to Manchester City council tax people every time a student drops out of a course !

Lettings Agents and Landlords can't kick tenants out with 28 days notice.

Maybe if you can  claim housing benefit you will be exempt from Council tax 

The council didn't send out a tax bill in my name no, I think their system had just flashed up that the status of someone couldn't be verified any longer. It's likely more to do with my uni being Birmingham based, so Manchester council don't just have automatic access to request my student status. So the agency saw this and obviously wanted everyone to reconfirm. Technically, I guess this means the council do not actually know yet that I'm not a student, nor does the agent. So no bill has been sent to them, but the second I send this student status letter they will.

_Penny_Dreadful

When does the fixed term of your AST end?

As this is a HMO where you are all renting individual rooms then your landlord is the one on the hook for paying the council tax bill from the time you dropped out your course in January until either you leave the property or become a full time student again, whichever comes sooner, due to the Class C provision in Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992.  Looking at the snip of the tenancy agreement you provided it looks like the NRLA AST for individuals renting a room in an AST and you're right, if they've used the exact template and not added any clauses, then there is nothing in there about maintaining your student status or passing back the council tax charges to you should you not maintain your student status for the duration of the tenancy. However, Clause 9.4 does say....

9.4 You must give us any reasonable information that we, our agent or local authority require to perform HMO management duties

Although if you'd told your landlord back in January would could (s)he actually have done to get you out of the property?  SFA.

I can see where you got the 28 days notice from, it is in clause 8.1 but that clause telling you, the tenant, how much notice you must you must give to end the tenancy, not the landlord. 

I think if I were your landlord I would issue a Section 21 at the first opportunity and I might even look to increase to increase your rent as soon as possible.

tooldle

dimbo61 said:

I smiled when I read your post.
I am a student Landlord of a HMO in Manchester.
We require our student groups to complete the online " student exemption form with Manchester City Council " when they first sign up as they have University numbers.
All tenancies are Joint and Several 
Never ever in all the time we have been Landlords have the council tax people asked us to confirm that our tenants are still students in January or April.
So who told the Lettings Agents that your no longer a student ?
Has the Council tax office been informed your no longer a student ? and sent you a council tax demand for 75% of the council tax from when you dropped out of your course ? With your name on the demand !
PS we also state in the signed addendum that if a student drops out of his/her course that they are responsible for any council tax payments incurred.

PPS, Landlords and Letting Agents cannot access the Manchester City council tax website to check if your no longer a student data protection laws so Again who informed the Lettings agents.

I very much doubt that the University will be sending out emails to Manchester City council tax people every time a student drops out of a course !

Lettings Agents and Landlords can't kick tenants out with 28 days notice.

Maybe if you can  claim housing benefit you will be exempt from Council tax 

I work in a university and we certainly send data to the council. 

dimbo61

The poster has stated that he is at a Birmingham  University  while living in Manchester.
You have been sent an email 
What happens if you don't reply ?

tooldle

dimbo61 said:

The poster has stated that he is at a Birmingham  University  while living in Manchester.
You have been sent an email 
What happens if you don't reply ?

OP did you provide an exemption certificate either to your landlord, or to the council?

[Deleted User]

avocia said:

[Deleted User] said:

avocia said:

anselld said:

Firstly, liability to the Council is determined by the type of tenancy agreement.  The Council Tax definition of HMO differs from the Housing Act definition so that if you are in a "Joint and Several" tenancy with the other residents it is not an HMO for CT purposes.  If you have a joint tenancy then you are liable to the Council for CT.
If you have an individual room tenancy then the Landlord is liable to the Council.
So the first thing to check is how many tenants signed the agreement?

It's room only (you can see that hidden under the docusign text in the screenshot I attached. We all signed individual agreements and none of us had met before moving in.

The landlord is liable for council tax as it is a room only tenancy agreement on a HMO. 

However, if i were you, I would personally pay the council tax and negotiate then to move out early, as clearly I had would have entered the contract on the understanding i was a student, and now my change of status,  albeit unintentionally,  is resulting in additional cost for the other party to the contract.

That's easy said, but as pre-reg optom I don't exactly earn stacks of cash. The amount of council tax payable is likely to be backdated to January as this is when I was formally no longer a student, and for a 3-storey 6-bed house with a double basement in central Manchester, I can see that being a pretty hefty bill and not one I can afford. Nor would it be reasonable for me to pay that, after all I occupy one tiny portion of the house. If it were a small/individual landlord I'd try to work something out with them as they would definitely feel the hit, but given this house is owned by a rather large rental business I'm quite happy to let them take a hit to their profits. If anything this should teach them a lesson in using generic rental agreements for every type of tenant, perhaps they'll alter their contracts for students in the future.

The right thing to do doesn't depend on ones financial position, the size of the landlords business or teaching them a lesson. However, it was only a personal opinion, you are not bound by it....

Look.  As has been stated strickly speaking, you do not have to pay it.  So don't.