Council Tax for Empty Property

DE_612183

I was wondering if anyone has had any success with similar situation.

My brother died two years ago, he as in a retirement complex which has proved difficult to sell, we have eventually got over the line, and now have a final council tax bill just shy of £1,000.

They have given an "empty property" discount, but that only applied for the first 12 months - my argument is that the neither the property or the deceased benefitted from any council services over that period of time.

What are my chances do you think of getting anywhere?

Thanks

jlfrs01

Councils have the discretion to charge for empty properties or offer a discount. As an example, my late father vacated his flat in West Oxfordshire to move into a care home. West Oxfordshire DC gave him a 100% discount for leaving his flat empty. 12 miles up the road where I live in Banbury, Cherwell DC only allow the sole occupancy discount for empty properties.
You can try to argue your case but the fact the Council have specifically chosen to apply a partial discount tells me they want the money. 

DE_612183

Thanks @jlfrs01- handy to know that there is not a standard rule that's applied, any ideas if there is any sort of "appeals" process outside the council themselves?

jlfrs01

I don't I'm afraid - in my case I didn't have to appeal as WODC gave the 100% discount for my father's Council Tax. 

p00hsticks

You should have automatically got an exemption from the date of death until six months after probate was obtained. 
Is the charge for the period after that ?
When my late brother died during the pandemic, we were expected to pay full council tax charge from after the exemption expired until we completed the house sale, as our local council did not offer any discount for empty properties (and in fact, would have charged a premium if the sale had dragged on much longer). 

On a separate point, the council  tax charged is not directly related to the services provided, so saying that no services were used is really irrelevant to your argument. 
(and in any case, as I often point out when people say that, many of the services partly funded by the council tax were still available for use - presumably if the property had ben broken into or caught fire you would have expected the  police or fire service to attend.... ) 

lincroft1710

There is no outside appeals procedure where a discount is at the council's discretion. As intimated in a previous post, your argument that neither the property or the deceased benefitted from any council services over that period of time.will get nowhere.

DE_612183

Thanks @lincroft1710 and @p00hsticks - I understand the point about services ( I hadn't thought of it in that way ).