Council Tax when moving, renovating then renting out

YBR

This is a situation that is not covered on my council's website and I may not wish to alert them by asking.

In the summer my family and I will be moving from our current house to one that comes with my new job. For a while my spouse will be back and forth doing renovations to make the current house fit for letting out.

Once we've moved, I'm thinking that the current home is potentially my spouse's residence only so single person discount applies?

Then once the renovations are done the council would class it as empty until a tenant moves in and takes over the bills (Empty home premium kicks in after 2 years, God forbid!)

Is it worth applying for single person discount for the few weeks it should take, and would it then continue to apply if the house is empty for a while?

marcia_

YBR said:

This is a situation that is not covered on my council's website and I may not wish to alert them by asking.

In the summer my family and I will be moving from our current house to one that comes with my new job. For a while my spouse will be back and forth doing renovations to make the current house fit for letting out.

Once we've moved, I'm thinking that the current home is potentially my spouse's residence only so single person discount applies?

Then once the renovations are done the council would class it as empty until a tenant moves in and takes over the bills (Empty home premium kicks in after 2 years, God forbid!)

Is it worth applying for single person discount for the few weeks it should take, and would it then continue to apply if the house is empty for a while?

 Spouse back and forth doesn't make it their main residence. Their main residence will be with you and the property wont qualify for a single person discount, nor do empty properties. 

FlorayG

No that's not how it works. Your spouse has to live there, have all correspondence sent there, go to work from there and be registered on the electoral role there to be 'resident'. Staying over a few nights a week while actually living elsewhere doesn't count.

lincroft1710

If you move to employer provided accommodation (EPA) and retain your previous home and continue paying CT thereon, then you may be eligible for 50% discount on the CT payable on the EPA. You need to check with your council if the EPA is eligible as not all are

YBR

lincroft1710 said:

If you move to employer provided accommodation (EPA) and retain your previous home and continue paying CT thereon, then you may be eligible for 50% discount on the CT payable on the EPA. You need to check with your council if the EPA is eligible as not all are

Thanks, that's great to know, but doesn't apply in my case since the employer pays the CT bill on the EPA.

@FlorayG My spouse will have finished work so I had imagined that being in the current house more nights than at home might qualify, the electoral register and post we could manage if we wanted to fix it, and if the council website's information had made it clear these were the tests!

However, thanks for your opinions. It would have been helpfully money-saving but I'm not inclined to game the system for the sake of some weeks when it's not intended for that!