when do I pay my rates

ginger_nuts

I bought a buy to let flat in May .The flat is rented out to a DHSS tenant . When it was first rented out NIHE told me I wasnt entitled to get the rates paid as neither the tenant or I where paying the rates .But NIHE do pay me £6.33 x 4 every 4 weeks for rates .A friend has told me that when they sold there house they had to pay the rates for the full year ,and when they bought there new house the developer had to pay the rates for the first year .Therefore becaues I bought in May the person I bought off will have to pay all the rates from April til next March .

I had assumed I would have to pay the rates from day one . I dont want to contact the rates office as I want to get a bit of money in first and I will be paying for long enough when I do pay .

Does anyone know how this works .

IvanOpinion

Ginger, I don't think you are correct. As far as I am aware you are responsible for rates from the day that house became habitable and you put furniture in it. If you bought in May then it is likely that, once the rates office catches up, you will have to pay 2 years rates next year - covering the period May 2005 - Mar-2007 (this is what happened to us).

Your friend definitely should not have had to pay the rates on a house they were not living in. They should have informed the rates office of the date they left one house and the date they moved into their new house. I also can't understand why the developer would be paying rates for a year - the devloper is not living in the house ... maybe the rates office did transfer their rates from one property to the other but your friend thought they were still paying on the old premises.

I have no ideas about NIHE payments etc. but I would advise caution since you are likely to be landed with a large bill next year (or within the next X years - not sure how long 'X' is). I would advis you to contact your local rates office (anonymously if you desire) and get the information from them.

Ivan