Council accusing me of having second home when on benefits

[Madmaria69]

Hi
I hope someone can advise me on this because I am tearing my hair out trying to fight the unnecessary bureaucracy in local government.
Basically my home was up for sale last year and also in the process of being repossessed. Therefore before it came to the point of eviction we started looking for somewhere else to live. This is a logical thing to do as far as I am concerned. We moved most of our furniture out of the house and stored it at a friends.
Because I am disabled ( I have a mental illness and also have spinal stenosis, arthritis, fibromyalgia and COPD).
We put our name down on the council housing list and began to bid on properties. We were very lucky and within a few weeks were offered a ground floor flat. which we accepted and moved in last February. That was the easy part.
I informed the council what was happening, I already have arrears with the council tax which is being deducted from my benefits and I pay £25 a month by direct debit for my new flat.
However the council are now accusing me of having a second home and sent me a bill for £900.00 for a property I haven't lived in since February of last year, and to add insult to injury they want paying in 7 days.
I have tried talking to them on the telephone and told them I am already paying off arrears and paying council tax for where I am now and have been since last February . I have sent them copies of court letters proving the repossession is in progress and even pictures of the house with no furniture in it. But I am banging my head against a brick wall. They tell me these are the rules if your house has not been repossessed and you voluntarily leave the property then you are classed as having two homes and have to pay the two bills.
Can someone please help me on this because it is ridiculous, how can this possibly be logical or fair. Is there any way I can get them to write this debt off because I can not afford it.
Thank you in advance

[Diana M]

Re: Council accusing me of having second home when on benefits

Can you just clarify something. What is the current situation with the repossession proceedings? In your post you've referred to "moving before it came to the point of eviction".

It seems that you vacated the property (your previous home) a year ago but was it then subject to a Possession Order from the court?

Or did you hand back the keys to the lender so it became a Voluntary Repossession?

Di

[Madmaria69]

Re: Council accusing me of having second home when on benefits

Hi Di
Thank you for your reply.
The repossession process was ongoing and the house was up for sale I just kept going to court to give us more time to sell the house ourselves and luckily we found a buyer in October last year and the house is now nearly sold only a few weeks off hopefully. We did not hand the keys back we tried to beat the repossession process and sell the house ourselves even though there will be a shortfall the lender has accepted this. so the repossession process has now stopped just weeks before the eviction date.
we moved out because I am not well and just couldn't cope with the stress of having to wait until the eviction date and then being homeless and then trying to find somewhere. If we hadn't sold the property.
Hope this helps.
kind regards
Maria

[wales01man]

Re: Council accusing me of having second home when on benefits

As you are legal owner until the house is sold you may be liable for CT different councils have different rules you need to check with yours

[enaid]

Re: Council accusing me of having second home when on benefits

I was in a similar situation but for a much shorter time and I am afraid I had to pay CT on the two properties.

[Snoopy1948]

Re: Council accusing me of having second home when on benefits

I agree .... as the house is very much a 'second home' in every way, except the fact that you have no residence in but you have access to do so if you wish. As such the council are allowed to count it as a second home at whatever rate they have set. Were the council aware of this when they agreed to rehouse you? And as for paying within seven days, and assuming that you do not have the means to do that, then I can only assume that you should ask for affordable instalments ( even though it's a balance that's 'immediately due' ) and if that's a no go, then you may have to let it simply go through the enforcement phases although if there is equity in the sale, you could well offer a 'solicitor's assurance of payment from the sale proceeds.

I empathise with your situation, especially health concerns, and yes, bureaucracy seldom takes that into consideration.

[Diana M]

Re: Council accusing me of having second home when on benefits

Hi Di
Thank you for your reply.
The repossession process was ongoing and the house was up for sale I just kept going to court to give us more time to sell the house ourselves and luckily we found a buyer in October last year and the house is now nearly sold only a few weeks off hopefully. We did not hand the keys back we tried to beat the repossession

That makes sense.

I asked about the repossession because you could argue that it wasn't a second home if it was in fact 'owned' by the lender after obtaining a Possession Order. Ditto with Voluntary Possession. You would have been entitled to a 'Class L Exemption'.

However from your description of things the house was 'empty and unfurnished' so you may be entitled to a discount from your Local Authority which can vary from 10% up to 50%.

Have a read of this >

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/secon...pty-properties


I hope you are enjoying your new home

Di