Council tax - first time homeowner

firsttimebuyer213

Bit of a daft question but I’m a first time homeowner and first time council tax payer: 

We completed on 04/04/24 but won’t be moving in until late July/early August due to work being done on the property before it’s ready to live in. On the change of address form, do I need to select the option that says we’ve bought the house but not living in it, and then when we do move in, we do a change of circumstances form to say we have moved in? I can’t get hold of the local authority to ask them unfortunately.

im assuming the above is the correct way to go about it as the only other options are to say we have moved in.

Thank you!

Bookworm105

you planned approach is technically correct

however, please understand that council tax is charged as a rate per day and many councils no longer give an exemption/discount for "unoccupied" property. You will need to read your specific councils CT rules on "exemptions and discounts"

also be careful you understand what is meant by "unoccupied", for some instances that means the place is bare of furniture as well as people.

Martico

Definitely worth finding out what your local council's rules are. Where I live, I had a few months' overlap when I was still renting having bought my doer-upper. Had I left the new place unoccupied for more than six months, the CT on that property would have been charged at double the standard rate. Different councils have different rules, but many (most?) charge a higher rate at some point for unoccupied properties, which makes sense   

theartfullodger

(Obvs...) just tell council the truth.

CT is charged to whoever has control of the property at 23:59... 

Be nice to council: They may be so surprised that they then help you..

firsttimebuyer213

Martico said:

Definitely worth finding out what your local council's rules are. Where I live, I had a few months' overlap when I was still renting having bought my doer-upper. Had I left the new place unoccupied for more than six months, the CT on that property would have been charged at double the standard rate. Different councils have different rules, but many (most?) charge a higher rate at some point for unoccupied properties, which makes sense   

I’ve had a look on the website for my local authority, they charge double for an unoccupied property after a year and so on and so forth. I’ll need to speak to them to iron out the finer details - that’s if they answer my call!

theartfullodger

Beware unoccupied rules.. I had a house empty, being sold.  Found out could be zero rated... but then found out what if not sold promptly would be rated double....so paid normal rate (not single occupancy as nobody living there..) .  Different councils, different countries.. (eg NI, Wales..), different rules..

firsttimebuyer213

theartfullodger said:

Beware unoccupied rules.. I had a house empty, being sold.  Found out could be zero rated... but then found out what if not sold promptly would be rated double....so paid normal rate (not single occupancy as nobody living there..) .  Different councils, different countries.. (eg NI, Wales..), different rules..

I do wish they’d make uniform rules about council tax it’s a pain trying to figure it all out!

subjecttocontract

If you are already paying council tax anywhere you aren't normally expected to pay for a second property but all councils have a free hand to deal with payments as they choose. Suggest you give them a call.

lincroft1710

firsttimebuyer213 said:

theartfullodger said:

Beware unoccupied rules.. I had a house empty, being sold.  Found out could be zero rated... but then found out what if not sold promptly would be rated double....so paid normal rate (not single occupancy as nobody living there..) .  Different councils, different countries.. (eg NI, Wales..), different rules..

I do wish they’d make uniform rules about council tax it’s a pain trying to figure it all out!

Central government gave councils the right to apply whatever unoccupied discount they chose, from 0% to 100%. In England if unoccupied for more than 2 years then 200% CT is charged

amanda1024

Also I think there are different rules if the works being done mean the property isn’t liveable in

jrawle

subjecttocontract said:

If you are already paying council tax anywhere you aren't normally expected to pay for a second property but all councils have a free hand to deal with payments as they choose. Suggest you give them a call.

This is not true. Council tax is payable on each property. Someone has to pay it; either the owner or the occupier. Some councils will give a discount for empty properties for a certain period, but after that they charge double. If you are responsible for two properties, you need to pay it on both, and can only claim discounts such as single occupancy on one of them!