Paying bills on two houses

Pine

We will soon be completing on a new house which needs some minor work done on it. We plan to stay in our current house until this work has been done, then move in and put our current house on the market. This means that there will be a period of time when we are paying two sets of bills. 

Our gas/electric is with Octopus. We plan to stay with them, but I don't think you can have two houses on one account. Do we "move house" and then open a new account to pay the bills for our current house? We'd prefer to keep our loyal customer status, rather than create a new account for the new house, but is there a better option to consider? 

A relative has suggested we reduce Council tax costs by saying one of us is living in the new house, and one is living in the current house, to get the 25% single occupant discount on both. This feels morally wrong to me, but if neither of us are living in the new house, is there any reason we can't pay full price for our current house but say that only one of us is staying in the new house? 

Thanks in advance. 

TheMilkmansDad

You'll need to open a new contract for the new house with the current supplier of the property once you take possession.

In regards to Council Tax, talk to your council. We were in the same position a few years ago and they agreed to a reduced bill for 3 months for the new property. Once you've moved you may get a discount for the old property until it's sold. Every council is different hence the best course of action is speaking to them.

Pine

Thanks so much for such a quick reply. For some reason it didn't even cross my mind to just stay with the current supplier as we'd need to open a contract with them anyway. Then we can switch our Octopus account across when we sell our current house. 

That's really helpful to know about your Council Tax reduction. We'll be with Wiltshire Council for both houses, so hopefully this will make it easier as they'll cover both properties. I'll get in touch with them. 

lincroft1710

Pine said:

A relative has suggested we reduce Council tax costs by saying one of us is living in the new house, and one is living in the current house, to get the 25% single occupant discount on both. This feels morally wrong to me, but if neither of us are living in the new house, is there any reason we can't pay full price for our current house but say that only one of us is staying in the new house? 

Thanks in advance. 

Rather than morally wrong it is actually Council Tax fraud.

housebuyer143

Some councils have exemptions if the house has unoccupied and unfurnished. Check if your council is one of them. You might not need to pay anything at all.

km1500

when you say 'we' what do you mean ?

if two friends then perfectly possible for one of you to have house A as your residence and the other B as their residence. Ditto eg father and son, etc

DullGreyGuy

km1500 said:

when you say 'we' what do you mean ?

if two friends then perfectly possible for one of you to have house A as your residence and the other B as their residence. Ditto eg father and son, etc

but they have stated the reality is both are living in their current property and the other is unoccupied and therefore to declare otherwise would be fraud irrespective of the relationship between them. There is also no law that say married couples have to live together.

km1500

you can nominate one property as your main residence. No requirement to spend x% of your time there. You can eg have your own flat but spend 99.9% of your time at your girlfriend's place and still your flat would be your main residence.

sheramber

The Op has not answered who ‘we’ are. Married couple ,civil partners or living together?

badger09

km1500 said:

you can nominate one property as your main residence. No requirement to spend x% of your time there. You can eg have your own flat but spend 99.9% of your time at your girlfriend's place and still your flat would be your main residence.

Relevance to CT?