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Letting residential property for storage
monksprop
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi
i have a house converted into two flats. The bottom flat has been rented by an elderly person for the last 15-20 years at a low static rent. The top flat has been empty for a number of years and requires substantial renovation.
i have a house converted into two flats. The bottom flat has been rented by an elderly person for the last 15-20 years at a low static rent. The top flat has been empty for a number of years and requires substantial renovation.
For the last few years, the elderly lady has been using one of the rooms in the top flat to store her belongings, an informal agreement between us.
The cost of keeping the top flat empty is now more than the income generated from the bottom flat. Mainly due to the 200% empty property council tax. Can I let the top flat residential property as storage? And if so will that reduce the council tax bill?
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Comments
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Why not increase her rent? Why has it been low and static for so long?0
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I don't see a difficulty with giving her a residential tenancy for the other flat, but does she want to become responsible for the council tax? (at the normal rate - she's not going to get single person discount for an additional property).0
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you let the flat , she uses as she wishes.
A storage facility would have to pay business rates.0 -
Doubt you can create a tenancy, with all the AST rights and obligations if no one is going to live in it. It would be a contract without the extra rights of a tenancy.You could just increase the rent and add a clause to the tenancy to allow for storage rights.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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That would mean increasing the rent to cover the 200% council tax.0
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How substantial is the renovation? Would it be mortgageable?monksprop said:Hi
i have a house converted into two flats. The bottom flat has been rented by an elderly person for the last 15-20 years at a low static rent. The top flat has been empty for a number of years and requires substantial renovation.For the last few years, the elderly lady has been using one of the rooms in the top flat to store her belongings, an informal agreement between us.The cost of keeping the top flat empty is now more than the income generated from the bottom flat. Mainly due to the 200% empty property council tax. Can I let the top flat residential property as storage? And if so will that reduce the council tax bill?
Why not start doing the renovation gradually as its affordable or sell the top flat to an investor. You could use the sale proceeds to invest elsewhere in something needing less maintenance.
The downstairs tenant would need to declutter and manage belongings within the flat she's paying for. Or if she wants the extra storage, that has to be at the going rate. Even if switched into her name, the top flat would still be a second property she doesn't live in so would still have the higher rate. So it doesn't make a difference who's name the bill is in if she pays enough rent to cover it and give you a reasonable return.0 -
Let the FF flat to the GF tenant then she will be paying 200% Council Tax at full rate as a second home!If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0
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