tenant refusing to pay council tax

crisp

i have 4 tenants on separate ASTs. one tenant spoke to the council and they said that as each tenant was on separate ASTs, then the landlord should be registered on the council tax.

she is now refusing to pay her portion of CT saying she's not on the CT bill, despite a verbal and written agreement (in her AST) that she would pay her share and despite the other 3 tenants being sensible and reasonable and paying their share.

where do I stand?

robpw2

you could evict them for not meeting the terms of contract .
who is registered to pay council tax? because they would be the person responsible

Imp

Are we looking at an HMO here?

Benefits_Blagger

this sounds like a HMO, sorry m8 but council tax is your responsibilty in this case. this is the problem with greedy landlords and HMO's they want their cake and to eat it.

Nickynoo1

I would suggest the tenant that is not paying is the sensible one, as they are not paying for something that they are not liable for. Houses of multilple occupation the liability lays withthe landlord

daisykinn1

Did you tell them that all bills would included in the rent?

tbs624

AFAIAA, if the house is a HMO, then the LL is liable for the Council Tax. Some LL pass the charge onto their Tenants as part of the rental costs.

crisp

the tenant agreed to pay 1/4 of the CT and this was signed in the AST.

i dont think its very sensible as the tenant wont get a renewed contract, and the rent will rise for the others.

PasturesNew

If the landlord is responsible in law, that might be termed an unfair clause. So not valid.

It seems you are penalising the tenant for sticking to the law while you flout your responsibilities.

The other tenants won't lose out, if their increased rent is equal to the council tax they're not paying, it's no different for them.

Benefits_Blagger

PasturesNew wrote: »

If the landlord is responsible in law, that might be termed an unfair clause. So not valid.

.

i think that would be deemed an unfair clause. i hope the tenant sticks to their guns and if it's possible have you stopped from running an HMO as you are clearly trying to flout the law. I thought the days of the rigsby's had gone, so I'm told by all the BTL'ers.

pinkshoes

Benefits_Blagger wrote: »

i think that would be deemed an unfair clause. i hope the tenant sticks to their guns and if it's possible have you stopped from running an HMO as you are clearly trying to flout the law. I thought the days of the rigsby's had gone, so I'm told by all the BTL'ers.

Why would it be unfair? Having previously rented for 10 years, if it said in my contract that I was responsible for my share of the council tax for an HMO, and I signed that contract, then I would pay. Anyone with half a brain would know that if the landlord paid the council tax, then the rent would be £50 a month higher!!