Council tax query re: 200% charge on furnished unoccupied home job related dwellings

ghol26

Hoping you can advise. I have secured a teaching job overseas. My new school will be paying for my accommodation whilst I am working there. I do not want to rent out my furnished home in the UK as I want to stay here when we come home for the holidays.

Will this be liable for 200% council tax or will it be exempt under 'JOB RELATED DWELLINGS?' On the council website it states: 

You will need to upload your contract of employment, or a letter from your employer that confirms that you are required, under the terms of your contract, to live in accommodation provided by your employer; and  Confirm the address of the second property.

sheramber

Does your contract state you must live in accommodation provided by your employer or  is the employer paying your rent as part  of your remuneration.? 

ghol26

sheramber said:

Does your contract state you must live in accommodation provided by your employer or  is the employer paying your rent as part  of your remuneration.? 

It's part of the overall package. My contract states 'the Employer will provide the Employee with accommodation for the first year from properties within the Company's existing rental portfolio, and thereafter, to an agreed provision to convert to housing allowance'.

gwynlas

Obviously you will have to take the accommodation that  goes with the job but I would imagine that this places you in the same category as any other contract worker based off shore.
Your current home remains your sole home in the UK and presumably you will return on a regular basis pay utilities etc.
The only problem I see is it being empty for long periods affecting insurance.

grumpy_codger

gwynlas said:

...
Your current home remains your sole home in the UK and presumably you will return on a regular basis pay utilities etc.
The only problem I see is it being empty for long periods affecting insurance.

I think it's empty (unoccupied) that matters, not sole. If my memory doesn't fail me, I recall a recent thread about a person renting a property abroad and facing 200% council tax on their sole property in UK. 

If so, the question is the definition of unoccupied.

Flugelhorn

will you be coming back during vacation periods?

will it still be your address for just about everything?

theartfullodger

Which country? (Eg NI, Wales).  Have you carefully read local council's website on the 200% charge.  That's where I'd start. 

ReadySteadyPop

ghol26 said:

Hoping you can advise. I have secured a teaching job overseas. My new school will be paying for my accommodation whilst I am working there. I do not want to rent out my furnished home in the UK as I want to stay here when we come home for the holidays.

Will this be liable for 200% council tax or will it be exempt under 'JOB RELATED DWELLINGS?' On the council website it states: 

You will need to upload your contract of employment, or a letter from your employer that confirms that you are required, under the terms of your contract, to live in accommodation provided by your employer; and  Confirm the address of the second property.

The quickest answer is to apply to the council and see what they say, councils are being quite greedy about council tax now, I find it quite annoying the way they are treating second homes as an open goal to fill their coffers.

p00hsticks

grumpy_codger said:

gwynlas said:

...
Your current home remains your sole home in the UK and presumably you will return on a regular basis pay utilities etc.
The only problem I see is it being empty for long periods affecting insurance.

I think it's empty (unoccupied) that matters, not sole. If my memory doesn't fail me, I recall a recent thread about a person renting a property abroad and facing 200% council tax on their sole property in UK. 

If so, the question is the definition of unoccupied.

There has also been a thread where a single parent was refused the single occupant discount when their adult child went travelling / working (?) abroad because they argued that it remained the childs main UK residence... 

ReadySteadyPop

p00hsticks said:

grumpy_codger said:

gwynlas said:

...
Your current home remains your sole home in the UK and presumably you will return on a regular basis pay utilities etc.
The only problem I see is it being empty for long periods affecting insurance.

I think it's empty (unoccupied) that matters, not sole. If my memory doesn't fail me, I recall a recent thread about a person renting a property abroad and facing 200% council tax on their sole property in UK. 

If so, the question is the definition of unoccupied.

There has also been a thread where a single parent was refused the single occupant discount when their adult child went travelling / working (?) abroad because they argued that it remained the childs main UK residence... 

If the OP is returning regularly for holidays and living in their home (they don`t want to rent it out for that reason) I don`t think it will be empty long enough to incur the 200% (very very naughty councils) charge.

ghol26

theartfullodger said:

Which country? (Eg NI, Wales).  Have you carefully read local council's website on the 200% charge.  That's where I'd start. 

My house is in England. I'm moving to UAE