Council tax

[hagenmeister]

DS is a student and has found out in recent weeks that he's been put on the council tax form only. The other three residents have not declared they are staying there. As a student he is entitled to not pay anything. Does anyone know or can point us in the right direction to find out if he is liable when

a. The lead tenant inputted his details stating he would sort it
b. He now knows something fishy is going on.

TIA.

Are the other three students? Your DS is exempt (assuming he is full-time). If the other three are too then the entire house is.

No, they're in full time jobs

In that case the whole house is liable for council tax and it's a shared responsibility

My DS is registered the rest are not. My DS has just moved in. Who's responsibility is it to say how many people live there?

A letter is sent out, can’t remember what triggers it, maybe it’s yearly, or maybe it’s when there is a change, but it’s asks who lives in the house (over 18’s( and it has to be signed, so whoever fills or who it’s addressed to it in would be liable

In that case the whole house is liable for council tax and it's a shared responsibility

The OPs son is a full time student he is not liable for paying any of the council tax.

The others dont want to pay so have said only a student is there....if they check up then there may be problems..your son should be exempt.

If he's named can he not declare that the others live there? The 3 working tenants will be liable to pay it between them. Check the council website for info on how to register the others

If it's an HMO then it looks like the owner is responsible for council tax

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-a-home/student-housing/students-in-private-rented-accommodation/student-housing-council-tax/

From citizens advice website:

If you live in shared accommodation

The owner of the property is liable to pay council tax if you live in a house in multiple occupation (HMO). For council tax purposes, a property that's occupied by more than one household or by one or more tenants each with their own tenancy agreement for part of the property is likely to be an HMO.

thay is council tax fraud. very unwise. now ds knows, he is sharing in the guilt if he doesn't declare it.

the property will attract full council tax as more than one non student lives there. I don't believe the student is exempt from contributing to the tax, it's a shared liability among all residents. that's why usually students prefer to only share with other students.

As linked above it looks like the landlord should be paying it. He is a student and is exempt so why should he pay anything?

It wouldn't be fair of the working residents with full time jobs who are liable to make the one student in their house who is exempt to contribute to the council tax bill. Those three should divide it and pay it. Your DS is their scapegoat. Your DS should ring and declare the others living there and working. Then not pay the other tenants any money towards the bill since he's a student so its not his bill.

If his details have been registered with the council, then it is his responsibility to notify them of other people residing at the address.

if you are a non-exempt tenant in a 4 bedroom HMO and responsible for a quarter of each household bill, why should your contribution to council tax go up to one third or one half of the bill if one or two of the other bedrooms are occupied by students? how is that fair that someone else's status takes an extra £20 a month from your pocket? there is only a reduction in the tax due if there is only a single non-exempt occupant and it is a hefty burden to bear.

except if the student is actually the owner, or related to the landlord, a student occupant who didn't contribute would swiftly be told they were no longer welcome as a house sharer so they could be replaced with someone who will pay their quarter of every bill including the council tax.

If it's the annual form, it needs to be signed stating that it's a true declaration of who lives in the property and whether any people 'don't count' as occupants for council tax purposes.

Are you saying that one of the other tenants has faked your son's signature in an attempt to commit council tax fraud? He needs to contact the council to update the details and put one of the others as the lead tenant (it may be possible to do this online).

If they're working adults then they need to pay a third of the council tax each, unfortunately, as a student your DS is exempt from having to pay. However this sounds like there is the potential for fallings out and he might have to think about whether he wants to continue living there.

If they are joint tenants (1 tenancy agreement) then they are all liable. If the property was wholly occupied by students then it would be exempt as it’s not then the full council tax is due and all (including any students) are liable for it. How they choose to split it is between themselves.

If they all only rent a room in the property and have their own tenancy agreements then the landlord is liable as it’s a HMO.

If only 1 of the people living in the property is named on the tenancy agreement then they are solely liable for the council tax.
Example A rents 4 bed house in sole name then rents rooms to 3 mates. A is liable for the council tax.

Some councils also apply a fine of £70 for failing to declare changes to circumstances that would affect an exemption or discount.

Your son is better off getting it sorted dinner rather than later as most councils will want this years liablity cleared by March 2020.

Be very careful here. I moved into a house share with my then BF and his two best friends. They signed me up for everything and them nothing. Even when I moved out after less than a month and tried to remove myself from everything, guess who was liable for nearly 4K of council tax when they eventually left the property.

Well if only your son is declared as living there, then the return must have been done in his name and signed (or signatures forged) by him.

This means he isn't liable to lay the tax but he could be held responsible for the fraud so needs to be extremely careful. Certainly don't go along with it as the council have other ways of checking who is resident in this digital age

Thank you for your responses. He's going to look for somewhere else to live. He's been telling us over Christmas some other stuff that doesn't sit well with me at all.

He hasn't signed anything