Council Tax Doubling on Deceased’s property

evsue

My mother passed away on 21st July 2023.  We put the property on the market when probate was granted on 7th November 2023.  

We were granted a council tax exemption for 6 months after probate was granted.
We informed the council that the furniture was removed from 14/08/23.  

The council are now saying the council tax will be payable from 7th May 2023 but will double effective from 14th August 2024 as the property has been continuously unoccupied for a 12 month period from August 2023.  
this seems unfair as we didn’t get probate until November 2023.

We have been unable to sell the property so far even though we have reduced it from the original valuation without success.
This is a band F property but is in need of modernisation which is why we are struggling to sell it even below valuation.
We understand this penalty is to avoid properties being left to stand empty but we are actively trying to sell it and were initially delayed putting it on the market as the probate service we’re struggling to deal with probate in a timely manner.
The council are saying that although this seems unfair they have no discretion over but we thought they did have discretion,
Does anyone know where we stand with this issue or have any advice to offer as the monthly council tax is now almost £500 per month?
Many thanks for any help with this.

km1500

I believe (but maybe wrong) that removing the furniture was a mistake 

put the furniture back in to make it habitable and you may solve the problem

Mr.Generous

Move in yourself, get a 25% reduction on std council tax for a single person. Big saving. If that also qualifies you at home its a win/win.

SiliconChip

You've had probate for a year and failed to sell it in that time, put it in an auction and it'll be gone in a month, solving your council tax conundrum.

Marcon

evsue said:

My mother passed away on 21st July 2023.  We put the property on the market when probate was granted on 7th November 2023.  

We were granted a council tax exemption for 6 months after probate was granted.
We informed the council that the furniture was removed from 14/08/23.  

The council are now saying the council tax will be payable from 7th May 2023 but will double effective from 14th August 2024 as the property has been continuously unoccupied for a 12 month period from August 2023.  
this seems unfair as we didn’t get probate until November 2023.

We have been unable to sell the property so far even though we have reduced it from the original valuation without success.
This is a band F property but is in need of modernisation which is why we are struggling to sell it even below valuation.
We understand this penalty is to avoid properties being left to stand empty but we are actively trying to sell it and were initially delayed putting it on the market as the probate service we’re struggling to deal with probate in a timely manner.
The council are saying that although this seems unfair they have no discretion over but we thought they did have discretion,
Does anyone know where we stand with this issue or have any advice to offer as the monthly council tax is now almost £500 per month?
Many thanks for any help with this.

Anything sells if the price is right. Clearly the valuation was way too high to attract a buyer, so dropping the price further is surely the sensible next step? If you're paying nearly £6K a year in council tax, and will have to heat/maintain the property over winter, and of course insure it, selling is increasingly urgent - unless you could rent it out, but if it is in a poor state, you may not be able to attract the sort of tenants you'd prefer.

poseidon1

SiliconChip said:

You've had probate for a year and failed to sell it in that time, put it in an auction and it'll be gone in a month, solving your council tax conundrum.

May I add that if likely to eventually sell at a noticeable loss below probate value, that loss is likely of no use to the estate unless IHT was payable on the original probate valuation - in which case an application to claw back some of the IHT maybe in point.

If IHT not an issue , then depending on who is entitled to the house under the will,  it could make sense for a transfer of ownership to beneficiaries pre sale so that they can take personal  benefit of the allowable loss arising.

With only a meagre £1,500 of personal annual CGT exemptions going forward, the property loss could be a useful future tax shelter for someone.

mybestattempt

evsue said:

My mother passed away on 21st July 2023.  We put the property on the market when probate was granted on 7th November 2023.  

We were granted a council tax exemption for 6 months after probate was granted.
We informed the council that the furniture was removed from 14/08/23.  

The council are now saying the council tax will be payable from 7th May 2023 but will double effective from 14th August 2024 as the property has been continuously unoccupied for a 12 month period from August 2023.  
this seems unfair as we didn’t get probate until November 2023.

We have been unable to sell the property so far even though we have reduced it from the original valuation without success.
This is a band F property but is in need of modernisation which is why we are struggling to sell it even below valuation.
We understand this penalty is to avoid properties being left to stand empty but we are actively trying to sell it and were initially delayed putting it on the market as the probate service we’re struggling to deal with probate in a timely manner.
The council are saying that although this seems unfair they have no discretion over but we thought they did have discretion,
Does anyone know where we stand with this issue or have any advice to offer as the monthly council tax is now almost £500 per month?
Many thanks for any help with this.

Are you sure of the dates?

Following the grant of probate there are six months before council tax is payable so this would be from 7 May 2024 (not 2023) and then  double is payable from 14 August 2024.

I agree with the the suggests made by other posters about dropping the price etc.

evsue

Sorry that should have said May 2024 not May 2023.  

We have since discovered that due to legislation coming into effect from 1st April 2025 the property would be exempt from the 100% premium for  a period of 12 months if actively marketed.  This new legislation would have helped in our situation but unfortunately we have been caught in the period before it comes into effect;  however if the property has not sold/completed by then it would apply to us.  We take on board the comments re the property valuation and would be looking to further reduce the price.