Council Tax Liability

[brown8141]

Hi All,

I am in a bit of pickle with an 'outstanding' council tax bill and would really appreciate any help you can give me ... I don't appear to be making any headway on my own and have been asked to submit an arrangement for financial needs form, which I am already late on (I don't want to agree to anything!).

Background - I was the only non-student living in a 6 person house. I rented the smallest room and have been told as I was the only non-student, I am liable to pay the tax on the full house, less 25% for the single person discount.

I have argued that the house was a 'house in multiple occupation' - we shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and further, paid rent separately for our own rooms (each person paying a different amount depending on their room size). However, the local council have told me that a HMO has a different meaning for Council Tax to what it does in terms of housing and licensing. Subsequently saying it has no bearing on my Council Tax liability.

The only tenancy agreement on copy is for the whole property ... but this was not signed by me, it merely states (written on by the landlady and not signed by me) "sublet to Dylan, please see the attached" (there is no attachment). I believe I signed my own, separate tenancy agreement, but as this issue dates back 4 years, no one seems to have a copy.

What are my options here? Is there a chance to appeal to an independent body? Are the local council right that I am liable or are they trying to bully me here? If there is no tenancy agreement signed by me, can I reject the claims entirely?

I will seek legal action if necessary but obviously want to see if I'd be wasting my time first. Really really appreciate any help you can give me and of course, will be around to answer any questions.

Thank you,

Dylan.

[Milo]

Re: Council Tax Liability

Dylan,

If you have exhausted your complaint with the local authority (which appears to be the case), then the route to resolve your dispute is with the Valuation Tribunal. Their website should provide all the information that you need.

[lgfa92]

Re: Council Tax Liability

I have argued that the house was a 'house in multiple occupation' - we shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and further, paid rent separately for our own rooms (each person paying a different amount depending on their room size). However, the local council have told me that a HMO has a different meaning for Council Tax to what it does in terms of housing and licensing. Subsequently saying it has no bearing on my Council Tax liability.

Regarding HMO's for Council Tax purposes, Council Tax legislation has does have it's own specific definition. Under current legislation this is:

“Houses in multiple occupation, etc
Class C a dwelling which
(a)was originally constructed or subsequently adapted for occupation by persons who do not constitute a single household;
or
(b)is inhabited by a person who, or by two or more persons each of whom either—
(i)is a tenant of, or has a licence to occupy, part only of the dwelling; or
(ii)has a licence to occupy, but is not liable (whether alone or jointly with other persons) to pay rent or a licence fee in respect of, the dwelling as a whole.

On the face of it what you have said would appear to be a HMO however proving it with hard evidence is the problem. If it goes to a tribunal then anything can happen - I would however say that there have been some odd calls by Valuation Tribunals in the past where they have gone beyond the agreement and looked at 'what the landlord intended' - he will invariably say they didn't intend it to be a Council Tax HMO if asked.

I've seen a few similar cases go to a tribunal when I was working for a local council and the decision was it was not a HMO - the tenancy agreements were each individual & had their own rent for 'a room only' & the tenants confirmed this - solely on the basis that the landlord stood in front of them and said to the tribunal it wasn't a HMO.

As Milo has said it's a tribunal if you can't get a decision you're happy with - if you can't get anywhere with the Council you have to write to them, make them aware you are planning on appealing to a Valuation Tribunal and allow them the chance to respond to that before you can issue the formal appeal.

The only tenancy agreement on copy is for the whole property ... but this was not signed by me, it merely states (written on by the landlady and not signed by me) "sublet to Dylan, please see the attached" (there is no attachment). I believe I signed my own, separate tenancy agreement, but as this issue dates back 4 years, no one seems to have a copy.

Sublet by whom ? Did the landlord not own the property ? A sublet can only take place from an existing tenancy - If that is the case and the tenant(s) who held the actual tenancy were resident they hold a superior interest to you and you could not liable.

If you can't work on the 'sub-let' issue you'd have to look at proving the tenancy wasn't a joint one, which is easier said then done. You could try and show any bank statements with rent on however it could (and likely would) be argued by the council that you'd merely just split the rent and that was you're choice for convenience.

Craig

[brown8141]

Re: Council Tax Liability

Sublet by whom ? Did the landlord not own the property ? A sublet can only take place from an existing tenancy - If that is the case and the tenant(s) who held the actual tenancy were resident they hold a superior interest to you and you could not liable.

If you can't work on the 'sub-let' issue you'd have to look at proving the tenancy wasn't a joint one, which is easier said then done. You could try and show any bank statements with rent on however it could (and likely would) be argued by the council that you'd merely just split the rent and that was you're choice for convenience.

Craig

Craig,

Thank you so much for the detailed response! It seems like I will need to go down the valuation tribunal route, I will write to the council. However, before I do that, I just wanted to clarify the subletting issue with you ... to exhaust every angle

The tenants of the property were originally 6 students, one left and so the landlord (who owned the house and did not live in the house), sublet the smallest room to me. The only documented evidence of this is as I state above ... I am not sure this gives me any more wiggle room but please do let me know?

[lgfa92]

Re: Council Tax Liability

The tenants of the property were originally 6 students, one left and so the landlord (who owned the house and did not live in the house), sublet the smallest room to me. The only documented evidence of this is as I state above ... I am not sure this gives me any more wiggle room but please do let me know?

Presumably the landlord is the owner ?. I'll go on that assumption for now.

I'm not sure the landlord was fully aware of how they were actually proceeding with your occupancy, it sounds very confused on their part.

At the moment I can see there are 3 main possibilities:

1) You were intended to be a joint tenant with them and you'd be liable.
2) You were a sub-tenant of the existing tenancy and not liable -
Did the landlord intend (based on what was said at the time) for you to become a joint tenant or that you would sub-let from the existing tenants ? Depending on the exact situation you could have a way out there. A sub-let can only occur from a tenancy - the landlord would have no powers are far as I'm aware to sub-let a room from someone else's existing tenancy on a property unless the outgoing tenant had agreed for this to happen.
3) The existing tenants T/A was altered so they rented the property less one room - in which case it was a council tax HMO.

Craig