Removing council tax on annexe classed as 2nd home

deejaykay

Hi all, after some advice on where to start for this.

We have an annexe in our front yard. It's had it's own CT band (A) for as long as we've had the property. 

We used to have a lodger in the annexe,  who moved out in 2021. Since then we've sporadically rented it out on AirBnB, but stopped doing this last year and are no longer interested in letting it out to a lodger or as a holiday home.

As we are in Wales (Conwy), we are now subject to a CT premium (of 100%) for second homes. 

The annexe is separate from the main house, and has power/gas, a shower/bathroom and kitchen.

I want to do whatever it takes to not pay any council tax on the annexe. I am happy to remove some facilities and convert the annexe to what would effectively be a garden room. 

Can anyone advise what the correct steps would be, in what order, in terms of adjusting the property, and informing VOA, local council. Thanks!



 

peteuk

Check your local council website - this is taken from Camden Council 

A property is exempt from Council Tax if:

• it is no one's main home
• it is a self-contained annexe
• it has its own Council Tax band
• because of planning controls it cannot be let or sold separately

Bookworm105

you are along the right lines that removing banding comes to down to removing its ability to function as a self contained dwelling

the ability to prepare food and to bathe are key facilities that distinguish a mere set of rooms from a self contained dwelling. To what extent you have to remove facilities is down to the attitude of the VOA inspector that will deal with your case. It has nothing to do with your actual council, as the VOA is the definitive arbiter of what is, or is not, a banded property. The council simply reacts to whatever VOA say.   

The real problem is VOA will not officially simply tell you what to remove:  "Where structural alterations are made, each case will depend on its own facts as to the degree of physical alteration/adaptation carried out. Listing Officers should not give any specific advice as this could be construed as advising on tax avoidance."
There are many examples of variation between properties, some successfully debanded by merely removing cooking appliances and a bath, others were made to go much further, such as total removal off all pipework and capping of supplies 

If you’ve removed a separate area of living accommodation by making physical changes to your house, flat or other domestic property, you should contact the VOA. The VOA will only be able to remove a Council Tax band if the area or annexe has been sufficiently altered so that it could no longer be lived in separately.

The VOA is unable to give specific advice on any planned changes to a property. They can only explain how relevant Council Tax regulations are applied.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understand-how-council-tax-bands-are-assessed

the technical terms used by VOA are "aggregation" and "merging"
You may find it useful to educate yourself on the VOA's own practice guidance on that subject (bearing in mind the guides do distinguish between England and Wales for some aspects) 
Council Tax Manual - Council Tax: practice notes - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

pay particular attention to practice note 5: section 5  court cases and appendix 1 case summaries 

if you want a simple (but expensive) answer: remove everything that makes it self contained, then there can be nothing to argue over regarding degree of residual facilities as it would then be nothing more than a detached set of storage / garden rooms.

(of course if you have an outdoor swimming pool and wish to retain bathing facilities then you may want to argue over it being a "changing room suite" which is not capable of self contained dwelling but nonetheless does have a shower and toilet

lincroft1710

Very good advice by @Bookworm105, saved me a lot of typing!

deejaykay

Thanks @Bookworm105 for taking the time to put together that really helpful response. 

I am more than happy to take the "remove everything that makes it self contained" approach you describe.

One concern I have is that my council will somehow contest a potential removal of CT band - they are after all losing income if this happens.

Are you aware that they could request some sort of retrospective planning permission be sought in order to make the alterations official? Then deny the permission forcing me to put facilities back into the property (being pessimistic here!).

Bookworm105

deejaykay said:

One concern I have is that my council will somehow contest a potential removal of CT band - they are after all losing income if this happens.
...
Are you aware that they could request some sort of retrospective planning permission be sought in order to make the alterations official? Then deny the permission forcing me to put facilities back into the property (being pessimistic here!).

your council cannot
the VOA tells them to jump 1.6 meters high.
The council's only permitted action is to jump 1.6(+)M "up", not ask why, or "can I do 1.2 sideways instead".

sorry, planning permission not my area of knowledge.

lincroft1710

One possible downside (although less so if the annex is detached from the main house) is that the CT band of the main house may be increased.


Unless Welsh planning laws are different from English, it is highly unlikely planning consent would be needed in this case

deejaykay

Thanks both.

@lincroft1710 - even if the band increases it would still likely be cheaper than paying CT on the 2 separate properties, even without the 2nd home premium!