Removal From Council Tax List

PJB

Hi i hope someone can help me, in a short space of time!

This Thursday i have a Council Tax Appeal Tribunal hearing, but not regarding the banding.

The property was in such a severe state of disrepair that we were advised by our local council that it should of been removed from the list.

The property has a leaking roof, no gas, no heating, no hot water and has holes in most ceilings and damp from leaks! /but our local council believes this is not a reason to remove from the list. I have searched and searched for case law/statute etc regarding this and would be grateful if anyone could please assist.

Many thanks

CIS

It is not the Council who are responsible for removing it from the listings - The Valuations Office are responsible for this , the Council can only act under their instruction.

You may find help here - http://www.voa.gov.uk/instructions/chapters/council_tax/frame.htm

guppy

Hello

This is quite a complicated area, so this is quite long, apologies.

Under the council tax legislation, all properties are assumed to be in a reasonable state of repair. This is presumably a policy aimed at discouraging owners from leaving properties uninhabitable for prolonged periods.

If the property is uninhabitable there is an assumption that a reasonable owner would carry out any reasonable works necessary to make the house habitable again, therefore it would remain in the council tax valuation list.

The leading case (predating council tax, obviously) is Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe v McOscar [1923], which sets out the meaning of "reasonable repair".

The Tribunal will effectively seek to answer the question,

"Having regard to the character of the property and a reasonable amount of repair works being undertaken could the premises be occupied as a dwelling?"

The part referring to the character of the dwelling means that what is reasonable will be judged in relation to other similar properties in the area.

For example if your property is an old Victorian terraced house in a slightly neglected street of run down (but occupied properties), then only the works necessary to bring the property in to line with those properties will be considered. As opposed to the costs of completely modernising the property.

If the property is an unmodernised former farm worker's cottage then it would be compared to those.

To determine what constitutes a reasonable amount of work, the cost of carrying out the work can be compared to the estimated value of a similar house already in a reasonable state. Strictly speaking, these values should be taken at 1991, the date used to value properties for Council Tax. The principle is the same today though.

What is reasonable will therefore vary depending on how expensive the area is, and how much similar properties go for on the open market. In an expensive area, or for a desirable property (e.g. country cottage), its obviously possible to spend a lot of money and still make a good profit. If the property is in a bad area then you can argue it might not be worth it.

As a rule of thumb, a property with the roof off, which has been exposed to the elements for some months, and has rotten or missing floors would almost certainly be removed without argument.

On the other hand a boarded up house with a few tiles missing and some damp, could easily be made habitable again. A lack of hot water and central heating isn't a prerequisite to it being habitable, or I'd have asked for some money off when my boiler broke.

Anyway, the VOA's internal guidance is here:

http://www.voa.gov.uk/instructions/chapters/council_tax/council_tax_man_pn/k-ct-man-pn4.htm#TopOfPage

There is no case law on that page, but the VOA should send you this on request, and will have to send you full details of their case when you exchange evidence before the hearing.

As you will probably have gathered from the above, its actually quite hard to get a dilapidated house removed from the council tax system. Your best bet is to either demolish it completely or if major work is planned, start ASAP and then get the VOA out to look at it (i.e. when roof is off or floors up).

In the meantime, you may be able to argue for a band reduction.

If you are keeping the house once complete, keep in mind that once taken out of the council tax list, it may be re-entered in a higher band once the work is complete.

Good luck