well its not exactly whats going on here, as we are currently exempt from council tax, and he would have to pay full, so we arent skimming money from the system... it is however enough for me to reccomend to my housemates that it is to risky for us, as we owe nothing to the landlord to gamble with such risks, thanks you for your input, it has been helpful, though any further info on this subject would still be welcome out of curiosity and to reinforce my position on the matter

yeah i knew that, i wasnt asking it to be condoned either way, i was just interested in finding out more specific legality issues, how fraudulent (i realize thats a bit of a moot point as fraudulent is fraudulent),where we would stand and any possible repercussions for us, mainly so when we next speak to him if its not on we can state exactly why! rather than just because we dont want to! i hope you understand where im coming from, as im not asking how to get away with it, would just like to be more informed on the subject!

to put a long story short i am one of 5 full time student tennants currently in the middle of a years tennecy on a property, my question is in regards to the fact that my landlord wishes to claim sole tennancy of the property purely in regards to council tax (he is willing to pay for it), his reasons being that he lives just outside the zone for his choice of school for his child, where as our property is within the zone. he is wanting to claim that he lives there with his family in order to get his child into a "good" school, which is heart string pullingly noble enough for us to even consider the proposition. i am unsure of the legality of such an action or its possible repercussions on us as tennants! id appreciate any info that can shed some light onto wheather this is a very dodgy or just modestly bent!

phoned my local council, they informed me that i have to put a claim form through and fill out the backdating section, will do that then take it to them personally. heres hoping i can get it sorted!

thanx alot for your help!

yes it was just an enquiry i made while speaking over the phone to them, should i just fillout a for a state what i have here or is there a better way of doing it?

too start i am a 24 year old student, i was last year and i am this year, now the problem arrose over the summer break while i continued to live in private rental accomodation but changed course externally through UCAS. because of this my local council (brent) now claim through a technicallity i was not a student during the summer period as i was not a continuing student and thus im liable for the council tax of this period, £340 or so. this has already been paid by my housemate under the pretext that he would be refunded it once we were all cleared for tax exemption, after i handed in both certificates stating i was on a course for the full academic year previous and that i was later on a new academic course at the same university. due to them claiming the technicallity that i wasnt a student for this period however we can not claim that money back. during this period i was unemployed and living through my overdraft to pay rent etc and had inquired at the start of the summer if i would be entitled to ctb as they were charging me council tax at the time and was told no because i was a student. i find this highly unfair as it is my understanding that if your eligable for council tax payments your also eligable to apply for benifits, so im here looking for advice on if i am eligable to attempt to get the benifits i was due and missinformed over for the 3 months summer period, to try and reclaim some of the money i as i am hugely out of pocket, and what the best way to go about this is. thank you for any help!

i never claimed it because i never thought that i was entitled to it while still being a student, figured this could be my reason for not applying for it at the time... thanx for your info though, its a help and i'll get onto it tomorrow... any futher input on this is appreciated!

i think the issue was in my changing course, from what they have said because i changed course i effectively ended my status as a student, (regardless of the fact that i was a student for the entirety of the achademic year), for the period of the summer until my enrolment into the new course and semester! and because of this they are stating that i am not a continuing student but rather a new student. not entirely sure how that works! thus because i was unemployed during this period of "not being a student" im unaware of what my rights are now in regards to the council tax bill (that has already been payed) and my rights to any back payable benefits from this period!

last year i began a course at westminster university, during the summer i changed courses externally through ucas to the same university (could have done it internally but i was unaware of that at the time and im not sure if that has any relevance). i digress. my question is that although i supplied my local council (harrow), when i moved in this june with a certificate saying that i was a student on a course last year and then later supplied them with a certificate informing them that i was on a new course at the same university they are still insisting that i owe them council tax for the 3 month summer period amounting to over £300. as far as i was aware the tax exemption covered my year including the summer break regardless of my changing course, apparently this is not the case within harrow and so i wanted to know that if i have to pay council tax (im also 24, if that makes any difference) am i also eligible for backdating any benefits from this period and how do i go about that? also as i was not working for the entire duration and working with a negative bank balance. any ideas on what i steps i could take or is it just the way things go? thanks for any help! craig