Council Tax in an HMO

[purple_rain]

I've just noticed there's a little council tax section here so thought I'd try my luck...

 

I've recently moved into a house that was deemed by the council to be exempt from council tax. There is 5 of us in the house and we share the property as friends. One of the girls holds a contract for the whole property with the landlord. She is responsible for the rent of the property. The written contract has since expired but the landlord is happy for us to continue living there. A few months before I moved in, the council sent an inspector round and he decided that we were a house of multiple occupancy and were liable for council tax. (They had previously decided we were not). They have sent the bill for the council tax to our landlord who has since received a court summons. My flatmates and my landlord don't seem to be very proactive so I'm trying to find relevant information to figure out what's going on because there's a lot of confusion and mixed responses. My landlord is trying to claim backdated council tax from us because the council is doing the same to him. He has also claim that because we are an HMO that even the students are liable for council tax because there are non students living here. There are also people who have since moved out who unknowingly owe the landlord back payment for council tax and he's insinuating that he wants that split between the people who are living there now as he has to somehow cover the payment he's made to the council. Last thing that I fail to understand is why the council initially thought we were exempt from paying council tax and then changed their minds when the situation itself hadn't changed.

 

I feel like I'm drowning in misinformation and I've not heard from my landlord since he told us he's received a court summons. I've tried to go to the CAB a few times but they only have walk in appointments and I've had no luck because they're so short staffed that they can't even see me. Does anyone have suggestions?

[revshelp]

For a property to be considered HMO for Council Tax it either, 1) has to be adapted for separate occupation e.g. locks on each bedroom door, or 2) where the residents only pay for rent for part of the property i.e. paying rent for a room-only and sharing the remainder of the facilities.

 

Because of the possible frequent changes in residents at a HMO the law require the owner to pay the Council Tax, theres no requirement for the tenants to reimburse the owner (??unless you have a contract which says you will pay all the bills, and even then he would have to enforce the terms through the court) but if you don't he could ask you to leave or increase your rent to cover the additional costs.

 

The property sounds like it was exempt as there were only students living at the property, it should continue to be exempt whether or not its the landlord who's paying. It may be the Council were unaware that there were non-students living in the property as well in which case thats why they've ended the exemption. Alternately if you or the other tenants were claiming Council Tax Benefit then those payments would have been stopped as its only paid when theres a liability to pay the council tax.

[purple_rain]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your response.

 

From what you've said I think this house has always been an HMO and the council made an error in not labeling us in the first instance. I think they decided we were an HMO because the inspector saw locks on each door of the property, but then my parents' house has a lock on each bedroom door. So it was a bit weird for us that it all hinged on that.

 

We all pay a part of the rent to one girl who holds the contract for the property and then she forwards the rent to the landlord. I've asked her for a copy of the contract to have a look at the terms because even though the written contract is out of date, as far as I understand it, it is still active on a month to month basis.

 

I hate to say it and it was before my time living here, but this property was never fully occupied by students, it was always a mixture. Most of the people who were responsible have moved on and the landlord is keen to make back some of the money some way through us and it makes me very nervous because I'm happy here. For current lodgers who are living here now, are they exempt from council tax if they are full time students? The landlord seems to think they are not if they are living with non- students. Is he correct in thinking so?

 

Thanks again

[purple_rain]

My flatmate who holds the contract for the property has just responded. Apparently, she's given the only copy of the contract back to the landlord (for some very odd bizarre reason). None of us know why she's done this. Is this going to cause us any problems other than us not knowing exactly the terms of the agreement?

[raydetinu]

Ask the LL for a copy, and particular any reference to the council tax situation; it would unlikely he will be able to get any back tax from the tenants unless it is in the contract.