Legislation or guidance on the duty of care and competency required of local authority tax units

rs_at_home

As stated earlier, the 1 year exemption granted in March allowed us to prepare the property for sale or let.

Otherwise, we would have just put the property up for sale immediately.

To prepare the property for let, we needed several months, an EICR, compliance with the new 2023 Fire Regs, boiler and heating certifications, installation of fire alarms, etc.  This work required some rewiring, removal of old electrical boxes, plastering, decorating etc.  This cost roughly £6000.

This expenditure had nothing to do with preparing it for sale. We would not have taken this action if the Council had not given a 1 year exemption in March. We had no reason to to question that this exemption was accurate and binding.

elmer

It sounds like the council awarded the deceased exemption, which ends once probate is granted, and then you get a further six months from the date of the grant of probate, but I am assuming that you forgot to notify the council of the date of probate, and now they have the date, you have lost the exemption that was awarded after the end of the six months as you have said that it took you a year to renovate. So they have issued the executors with a bill, if this is  the case, the bill is probably correct and will need to be paid from the estate of the deceased.

Councils normally explain this process clearly in a  letter to the executors, after the registrar notifies them of a death, did the executors receive any letters in relation to the conditions of exemption that was awarded, as the exemptions are legislated nationally and all councils follow the same rules

lincroft1710

rs_at_home said:

As stated earlier, the 1 year exemption granted in March allowed us to prepare the property for sale or let.

Otherwise, we would have just put the property up for sale immediately.

To prepare the property for let, we needed several months, an EICR, compliance with the new 2023 Fire Regs, boiler and heating certifications, installation of fire alarms, etc.  This work required some rewiring, removal of old electrical boxes, plastering, decorating etc.  This cost roughly £6000.

This expenditure had nothing to do with preparing it for sale. We would not have taken this action if the Council had not given a 1 year exemption in March. We had no reason to to question that this exemption was accurate and binding.

Your choice not to put the property up for sale immediately. In no way has the council any liability for the estate expending £6,000 on putting the property in a fit state to let out. In any case carrying out all that work has made the property more saleable and attractive to prospective purchasers so I can see absolutely no way you can expect the council to compensate you! 

rs_at_home

OK, I can see I've raised some hackles here.  But basically I'll put my argument forward and see what happens.  That's all. But coming back to my original request:

"What government legislation will address the the duty of care and competency required of a local authority; particularly with respect to council tax."

Is there a code, competency or standard of practice prescribed anywhere for Local Authorities? Surely they must adhere to something.

noitsnotme

Why is the £6000 ‘lost’?  It has surely increased the value of the property so will potentially be recouped in a higher sale value than would have been achieved without the work.

mybestattempt

rs_at_home said:

OK, I can see I've raised some hackles here.  But basically I'll put my argument forward and see what happens.  That's all. But coming back to my original request:

"What government legislation will address the the duty of care and competency required of a local authority; particularly with respect to council tax."

Is there a code, competency or standard of practice prescribed anywhere for Local Authorities? Surely they must adhere to something.

I'm not aware of any code, competency or standard of practice, however, every council is required to have a complaints procedure  place. 

You should find details of this on the council website.

There is also information on the gov.uk website about making a complaint about a local council.

If you complain to the council then it you are not satisfied with it's response then you can refer it to the Local Government Ombudsman.

rs_at_home

noitsnotme said:

Why is the £6000 ‘lost’?  It has surely increased the value of the property so will potentially be recouped in a higher sale value than would have been achieved without the work.

Yes, this would appear to be the case but it's not.

I had 5 valuations done. I was told at the outset that spending money of this nature, ie EICR, Boiler/Heating, wired in fire alarms etc for rental, rewiring, upgrading the electrics would not add value to the potential buyer.  In other words, we would not be able to ask a higher price. One of the valuations was done by a RICS surveyor.

I won't get into the details, but this has subsequently proved to be true. There was an identical unit to ours, next door, same floor plan, that has had no updating for decades, is not compliant with fire codes, and the price bracket we are showing ours at is the same as next door. Both properties are being sold by the same estate agent.  The property next door is under offer.  Ours was under offer for the same price but after 5 months, contracts were drawn up but not exchanged, the buyer has had to withdraw due to ill health just two weeks ago.  There was no advantage in spending this money on the value of the property and this can be proved. It's purpose was to have the option to rent.

I keep coming back to the question: would we have spent this money had we known the council issued an exemption in error?  The answer is no.

lincroft1710

rs_at_home said:

noitsnotme said:

Why is the £6000 ‘lost’?  It has surely increased the value of the property so will potentially be recouped in a higher sale value than would have been achieved without the work.

Yes, this would appear to be the case but it's not.

I had 5 valuations done. I was told at the outset that spending money of this nature, ie EICR, Boiler/Heating, wired in fire alarms etc for rental, rewiring, upgrading the electrics would not add value to the potential buyer.  In other words, we would not be able to ask a higher price. One of the valuations was done by a RICS surveyor.

I won't get into the details, but this has subsequently proved to be true. There was an identical unit to ours, next door, same floor plan, that has had no updating for decades, is not compliant with fire codes, and the price bracket we are showing ours at is the same as next door. Both properties are being sold by the same estate agent.  The property next door is under offer.  Ours was under offer for the same price but after 5 months, contracts were drawn up but not exchanged, the buyer has had to withdraw due to ill health just two weeks ago.  There was no advantage in spending this money on the value of the property and this can be proved. It's purpose was to have the option to rent.

I keep coming back to the question: would we have spent this money had we known the council issued an exemption in error?  The answer is no.

And I'll repeat what I said previously, the council is not responsible for the estate choosing to spend £6000 on the property rather than just simply sell it as was.. The estate still has the option to rent the property out. A new boiler and EICR are items that appeal to first time buyers, especially those coming from rented properties. 


Of course you can ask a higher price than an unimproved property, no law says you can't. When you say "price bracket" do you actually mean "price", as the two are not the same.. 

mybestattempt

 
How much council tax is due because the exemption period has been found to have ended earlier than previously assumed because the council wasn't correctly informed about the date grant of probate was issued?