Council Tax Responsibility and risky advice to tenant by CAB

@Puzzler - I think you will find that the vast majority of Councils no longer offer a vacant property exemption period whatsoever. There are a few which still allow a six month expemption and a few more have shortened the exemption period but it's very clear which way this is going, i.e. no exemption periods at all. It's not a matter of if anymore, it's more a case of when.

I just wanted to raise the point in case it was assumed that it was 6 months, I don't know how widespread it is, for me it only affects Cheltenham so far and there it is 28 days, I don't know where Sam's property is. I only found out by a notification from my agent so if you don't have an agent, how would you know? It has not been well publicised. Maybe a list on this forum....

In which case Sam would be paying from the vacation date anyway, so it makes no odds who is liable. Note you can claim it against tax if you pay it, Sam.

@Puzzler - I'm not aware of a list I could publish here, if I find one I will do so. I only know how widespread this has become as a result of emails from readers and comments left on other posts over the last year or so.

The way self managing landlords find out is that the Council send a bill to the property address. My family always provide the Council with a correspondence address but occasionally this is ignored and the bills find their way to the property address anyway. Sadly this happens with utility companies too 🙁

Yes, the vacant property exemption for CT has gone entirely in my areas of operation too. The excuse used by the council is that they have had the funding for council tax benefit cut by 10% by central Government, so they are seeking to recoup the money for their "vulnerable clients" by taxing the easiest targets, namely landlords with void periods, people who are selling their houses and have already moved, people who have gone abroad for work or extended holiday and left their houses empty, anyone renovating a house, and so on.

The logic of taxing empty houses is supposedly that the council is still providing services necessary to support the house, like street lighting and a fire and police service; council tax is not a poll tax on persons, but a tax on houses. The council has predictably chosen however not to remove the student exemption from council tax, or to tax houses that are empty because someone has died. Of course it's arguable that the student exemption is just an anachronism, along with free tuition fees and maintenance grants, and why should death be an excuse for exemption from council tax but not inheritance tax, but no doubt the political flack isn't worth it, whereas people like a landlords are a soft touch.

@Tony - in some areas the Councils are charging CT to students during the summer break on the grounds that many of them will be taking summer jobs and are not studying during this period. They will be charging the poor students CT on Bank holidays next!

You say Cheltenham allow 28 days exemption for an empty property. Reading Borough Council allow nil. I had a tenant move out one day and a new one move in the next. Months later I had a demand from RBC for one days Tax. This is how insane it has got.

I refused to pay, by email and had an exchange of views with them and in the end they cancelled the demand. I said it was not the amount but the principle I disagreed with.

Regarding the CAB and what they might have said I suggest you write to them (email) and quote exactly what your tenant told you CAB had said and ask them to confirm or correct it. Then publish the official CAB statement on this site so that we may all see it and perhaps, offer our views, offer our advice as a group or write to Head Office CAB and complain about misleading advice being dispensed and ask for it to be corrected across the CAB organisation.

If I the landlord move in then as a single occupier I get a 25% ct discount and also means I get 25% off my main residence as my wife would be alone ?!?
Would this work ?

@john - it might, especially if you really do move in and transfer things like bank statements, driving licence and doctor registration etc. It would also help you with CGT when you eventually decide to sell.

Up here in the North East all the councils vary slightly but it is either no discount or one month. Sunderland is nil discount but the charges are waived if the property is reoccupied within one month of being vacated. During my discussions with them it seems they will charge the tenant (Even if they have vacated) as long as you can demonstrate the tenant is in a contractual period. Whether this is the law or a local policy I do not know. So we need to be able to prove when the contractual period ends and to this extent we need to refer to The Housing Act:

@Puzzler
Notice does indeed have to coincide with the end of a rent period as we have discussed on this forum before. I even quoted you the case law which over-rides anything you put in your AST. The case was Lane v Cadwallader, Court of Appeal (Google it). So this is our basis for the appropriate contractual period when talking to Council Tax officials

Mark, my point is that people are offering opinions on this site which others may take as being the law. You, as founder of the site and 26% shareholder in a firm you say is a great letting agency, should be able to offer a definitive answer.

On this and other discussion topics I have found some very dangerous 'advice' from several sources