Council Tax - Court Summons

CIS

Just what is the definition of a House in Multiple occupation ?

For council tax , see the Council Tax (Liability for owners) regs 1992 (as amended)

John_Pierpoint

Would you agree with this definition:

The definition of a Council Tax HMO is covered in the Liability For Owners Regulations 1992 as amended:

“Houses in multiple occupation, etc

Class C a dwelling which
(a)

was originally constructed or subsequently adapted for occupation by persons who do not constitute a single household;

or

(b)

is inhabited by a person who, or by two or more persons each of whom either—
(i)

is a tenant of, or has a licence to occupy, part only of the dwelling; or
(ii)

has a licence to occupy, but is not liable (whether alone or jointly with other persons) to pay rent or a licence fee in respect of, the dwelling as a whole.”.


If it comes under the criteria of an HMO then the landlord is liable.

From a quick reading of your post one of the first things I would look at when trying to spot an HMO is the turnover of occupiers - its not conclusive but if people tend to come and go fairly regularly then its a good chance its an HMO.

The second thing I would look at would be the rents - do you each have an figure quoted to you rather than an overall total rent for the property ?.

Does this mean that:
If there are shared facilities & locks on the doors
OR
If the tenancy agreement charges by the room
THEN
The landlord is liable
AND
The tax gatherer should go after the landlord?

[Or does the council have the option of going after BOTH to get the weaker one?]

If the landlord is a foreign resident, does that allow the tenant to deduct council tax from the rent or does that only apply to Income tax ?

Can we take it as read that there is no list so the initial decision is down to the clerk(s) involved.

CIS

The decision rests purely on whether it meets the given criteria - the criteria are set in statue and cannot be altered by the council. If it meets the criteria then only the L/Lord is liable.

If the landlord is a foreign resident, does that allow the tenant to deduct council tax from the rent

No.

dennisheen

According to Chapter IV of the Council Tax administration and enforcement Regulations Act 1992, no liability orders can be issued for council tax bills if a period greater than 6 six years has elapsed since the amount became due. In the case of my gf, she was a tenant at the property from July 2003 until August 2005 but she received a bill in March 2011, so technically she can only be billed from July 2005 onwards, as the bill was due at the time of the tenancy?

CIS

According to Chapter IV of the Council Tax administration and enforcement Regulations Act 1992, no liability orders can be issued for council tax bills if a period greater than 6 six years has elapsed since the amount became due

Its 6 years from the date the amount becomes due (Regentford v Thanet Borough Council). If the bill issued in 2011 was to raise a charge (either a new charge or through an adjustment) then the 6 years starts at that point, if it was only a copy bill then the 6 years would start from when that bill was initially raised.

dennisheen

Thank you for your advice, CIS. I am looking at all possible options to spread the pain. As you can imagine having to pay several years worth of council tax for a shared accommodation with a super high turnover of tenants is a bit of a blow to say the least. The house was effectively managed by the agency as a house of multiple occupancy, as rents were collected separately and at different times of the month and every time a tenant moved out, no new contract was started. I am guessing the council really has no idea who was there when and for how long. Surely this is not in line with the prerequisites of a joint tenancy agreement? Tenants were never given copies of the contract, which means that they never had a second chance to read it at home and realise that it entailed a small print clause that stated they had to sort out the council tax by themselves. The agency also insisted on cash or cheque payments and it took a lot of persuasion for them to accept bankers drafts or standing orders. All in all, I can say that the setup of the agency was all a bit shady and secretive and the management was a shamble.

John_Pierpoint

Sounds like an HMO to me, so landlord is liable?!?.

CIS

Tenants were never given copies of the contract, which means that they never had a second chance to read it at home and realise that it entailed a small print clause that stated they had to sort out the council tax by themselves.

Any clause in the Tenancy could not override legislation with regards to council tax liability, any clause like that would fall under contract law as a personnal agreement between the landlord and the tenant.

cydfenix

Hi everyone,
I have been reading this forum with avid interest to see if anyone else has had the same problem but it doesn't look like it, so I'm posting mine here - apologies if it is a repeat.
I've received a summons letter from Lambeth council for unpaid tax. When I called them, they claim to have sent me a reminder letter which I never received. This might have been because I was in between moves and my mail probably didn't follow me on time (it takes Royal Mail 10 days to set up redirection!) Anyway, they told me to pay the unpaid amount of tax as well as the summons costs of £122. My court date is for Friday 6th May and if I don't turn up, liability of £5 will be added to it.
A little background info: early April, I received my installment plan from the Council and on it was the amount of £133 with no explanation. When I received this I promptly paid both the current month's tax as well as the £133 as I assumed this was correct and I didn't have time to call them. I received the Summons letter after paying this and this is when I realised that the missing tax was the explanation for £133. I have to also add that when I moved house, I did call the Council twice because I hadn't received any correspondence from them (reimbursement from my previous address and the amount for the new one) and they kept telling me that it was on its way.
I called the Council again and explained that I never received the reminder letter and that I had paid the unpaid tax, only to be given a script they all seem to read from - the date they sent the reminder letter and that's it. When I repeated that I never received this letter, I was told that I had to contact Royal Mail to chase up this letter. I found this suggestion ridiculous - I used to work for Royal Mail and I know for a fact that asking them to find a letter which wasn't registered is like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack. So it seems to me that the Council were "passing the buck" of responsibility. Furthermore, I was suprised that they only sent one reminder letter!
I called the Council numerous times and was finally told to send an email. What I didn't know was that they allow themselves 10 days to respond to the email. So my email sent to them on 6th April was only replied to last week (because of all the bank holidays). The reply was the same script they gave me over the phone - the letter was sent on blah blah blah - with no acknowledgement of the fact that I never received said reminder or why they didn't just send it by registered mail since they're asking me for money.
I replied to the reply copying in the CEO of Lambeth Council, the Manager of the Council Tax department as well as the Local Council Ombudsman and haven't received a reply except from the Ombudsman who said that they couldn't take on this case unless I made a complain with them and only if I have followed the complaint procedures of the Council.
According to the Lambeth site, my second stage is to send an email to the Manager of the Council Tax formally asking my complaint to be brought to Stage Two, which I've now done. However, he allows himself 15 days to send me a reply which obviously means that my summons date will have been and gone.
In the meantime, I am still paying my council tax and it's completely up to date but I really want to resolve this and I definitely do not want liability to increase what I already owe. I was going to go to a Citizens Advice Bureau to find out what my options were but they open during work hours and I am currently temping as I have recently lost my job. They do have a phone line but I can't spend too much time over the phone either as part of my job is answering phones.
I really don't know what to do. I have done everything I could think of but am being met by a wall. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you (and apologies for the long text!)

CIS

This might have been because I was in between moves and my mail probably didn't follow me on time (it takes Royal Mail 10 days to set up redirection!

I was told that I had to contact Royal Mail to chase up this letter. I found this suggestion ridiculous - I used to work for Royal Mail and I know for a fact that asking them to find a letter which wasn't registered is like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack. So it seems to me that the Council were "passing the buck" of responsibility.

This is not the council's issue - as long as they posted it to the last known address then it has been served correctly.

According to the Lambeth site, my second stage is to send an email to the Manager of the Council Tax formally asking my complaint to be brought to Stage Two, which I've now done. However, he allows himself 15 days to send me a reply which obviously means that my summons date will have been and gone.

Again , providing they posted to the last known address then they have issued the reminder correctly and the summons is correct if you didn't bring the account up to date within 7 days.

I really don't know what to do. I have done everything I could think of but am being met by a wall. Any help would be much appreciated.

You aren't being met by a wall, they are advising you of their actions in line with statutory legislation.

Furthermore, I was suprised that they only sent one reminder letter!

This is again in line with statutory legislation - there are 3 cases where only 1 reminder (either normal reminder or final notice) needs to be issued before a summons;

a) an amount has become due from a previous year.
b) you had an instalment plan starting between 1 January and 31 March.
c) you miss a payment and don't bring it up to date within 7 days.