Caught out by tenant paying council tax at another property?

The tenant will be legally liable for council tax for a property he
occupies. The responsibility for an unoccupied property rests with
the owner of the property.

Reply to the comment left by "James Tenniswood" at "28/06/2016 - 11:16":

It is the tenant saying they were still occupying the property that would appear to put responsibility on them and not on you.

Hi may suggest you read my article in the Christmas 2014 Southern Landlords newsletter regarding this whole matter. Briefly Local Government Finance act sets out the position , of course anyone can be liable for Council tax for two or even more properties. Subject to exceptions, main person liable is the person in occupation and if no one, then its the owner. Thus a tenant may be in occupation of one property but own another. The concept of ownership is important. Since the Norman Conquest its the crown that owns the land we mere mortals have what is known as a Legal Estate . There are but two legal estates , in plain English either Freehold or Leasehold. It matters not if the leasehold interest is for 6 months or 99 years. Thus so long as your tenant held a tenancy he/she is responsible for Council tax either as being in occupation or as the owner. However the slight sting in the tail is that the Local Gov Finance act specifies that a Leasehold interest should be for 6 months or more so the Superstrike case rears its head once again because at the end of the fixed term, a Statutory periodic tenancy comes into p[lay and most (not all) would be just a monthly tenancy See the case of Macattram V London Borough of Cambden However if your A.S.T provided that at the end of the fixed term a Contractual periodic tenancy came into effect even if it was a monthly one then following the case of The Berwick Settlement v Shrewsbury City Council the tenant would be liable. The last day of a tenancy is interesting as it is deemed that the tenant is NOT in occupation however under Sidebotham v Holland they would be liable as owner.
I have had problems with two Councils Canterbury City Council and Thanet District Council its like trying to get blood out of a stone I had to take Canterbury City Council line by line word by word through the legislation and the decided cases . They then advised that they would take legal advise , never an apology just a reluctant conceding of the fact that I was correct and they were wrong . A follow up request to find out how many incorrect requests for Council Tax and there proposals to re in burse people was met by what one might call arrogance. But please read the whole article and I am happy for property 118 to print the whole of that article

John Pettman LL.B (Hons)

The Trustees of the Berwick Settlement and Shropshire Council (Valuation Tribunal of England Appeal Number 3245M131738/176C) hits the nail right on the head. It provides a good summary of the position with contractual periodic tenancies (including some useful wording for the AST) and with statutory periodic tenancies, as dealt with in MacAttram v. London Borough of Camden [2012] EWHC 1033.

I shudder to think how many landlords are being caught out by this particular (to the lay man dialectical) distinction. I've been battling away with Durham County Council on this for months. Having thrown MacAttram into the ring after a charge of mind from a previous written determination saying no council tax was payable, they couldn't explain the differences between the different types of tenancy and never even mentioned the Berwick Settlement case.

Sadly, this all has a ring of local authorities trying to hit landlords with charges on abstruse technicalities that the Council staff themselves don't properly understand. This can leave individual landlords very exposed.

Hi James

I've had this issues with councils trying to charge me council tax which a tenant is liable for and I've never had to pay it. I told the council that the tenant was renting the property for the period it was due and provided proof of this i.e copies of tenancy agreement etc. They would then put it to me that the tenant had moved into another home, however I would then point out to the council that it is not against the law to rent more than one property. Until such time we regain legal access to the property through the courts I've pointed out to the council that tenant remains liable for the council tax on the property that they (the tenant) have contractually entered into via a rental agreement.
I've never been challenged after explaining this.

Reply to the comment left by "James Tenniswood" at "28/06/2016 - 11:16":

Hi James
I know it is a bit past when you spoke to the council but may I suggest that every time you speak to the council you then follow this up with a letter stating who you spoke to and what they said to you.
Address the letter to the person you spoke to.
This will not do anything in the short term but if there is ever a dispute about what was said you can point to the letter and say I confirmed what I was told in writing and this was never disputed.
Will save a lot of hassle if things get nasty.

I have today received a bill from Wirral Council demanding payment for council tax for a two month period in 2013 when a tenant was contractually obliged to pay council tax as he was still renting my property whilst renting another. I have already paid the 8 month period following the end of that tenancy, that was billed and paid for in March 2014. I was unable to rent the property immediately following the end of that tenancy as the house was left in a very bad state and had to be refurbished, It cost thousands and the builder now owes me money as the work he did was unacceptable and I had to get the work redone. Now the council have written asking for the two months prior to the tenancy ending. I will be asking them why and asking why they accepted the situation back in 2013 but have now changed their minds.

Reply to the comment left by "John Pettman" at "02/07/2016 - 15:35":

John

Could you please cover off what happens after the fixed period if a statutory periodic tenancy runs on which is just expressed to be a statutory periodic tenancy and not a statutory monthly periodic tenancy?

Does the notice period (say of one or two months) then determine the period of the statutory tenancy?

Hi James,
I hope I Am not too late with my advise. Firstly Councils are greedy grasping organisations and know that you will prove an easier target, than the feckless tenant. If they will not see sense and relent you will have to attend court. Be prepared, the Magistrates court are accustomed to rubber stamping Liability orders for useless Councils. You are not legally liable and your defence is as follows.
There is a hierarchy of Liability for CT. The tenants had a tenancy and had right to reside in either or both properties.
Bring the paperwork which you have mentioned. An individual or corporate entity can have a CT liability for one or more properties, as we landlords have in the case of voids. This tenant could have been subletting. Again on the hierarchy of liability even squatters with no tenancy agreement may have a CT liability. Have a look at the Council tax regs 1992, Good Luck.

Reply to the comment left by "Peter Fredericks" at "27/06/2016 - 13:15":

Leeds v Broadley (2016) affirmed the VT decision in favour of the landlord who built into his tenancy that it continued as a contractual periodic under same terms and conditions therefore tenants remained liable even though had left during notice period - different with Camden -v- Macattram (2012) which was statutory periodic