To be shocked at council tax?

[MamaSaysItsAHardKnockLife]

Moving into a houseshare in London soon. Sharing with two others who work full-time and a student, so we will just split council tax amongst ourselves and leave student out of it although no discount.

I was thinking we had got ourselves a pretty good value place for London (620 a month) and now have just seen council tax will be another 60 each on top!! Not including of course gas/electric/water/internet/insurance...

[thelmafitzgerald]

We pay £147 for a small two bedroom flat! I would say yours is on the cheap side!

[PersianCatLady]

Are you splitting the CT between three paying people - you and two others or you and one other?

[motheroftwoboys]

We pay £142 a month in Gateshead. Terrace house in pedestrianized street. Not cheap.

[MackerelOfFact]

That sounds about right, TBH. You're splitting it 2 ways, but it's based on the value of the property, which being a 3-bed will be higher than an equivalent 2-bed. If the two of you were sharing a 2-bed it'd probably be less (but honestly, not that much less).

I'd say £600pp excluding bills is probably normal for somewhere Zone 3 or 4, but very cheap for Zone 1 or 2.

Sorry to be the bringer of further gloom, but water is the thing I'm always amazed at the cost of.

[SweetChickadee]

years ago my council tax on a one bed flat in Surrey was more than a colleague's...and he lived in a pile in Holland Park

[ChampagneCommunist]

I pay about £260 per month for CT. And for that I get the most pot-holed roads in the UK (IMHO).

[whois]

TBH I'd have asked the student to pay the council tax as well. It is their choice to live with working people not other students.

Anchor where the fuck are your friends living for £600 all in?!

Agreed! Nice house shares are like, £1k all in standard.

[sparechange]

There is a massive difference in council tax rates between the boroughs
My friend has just moved 1/2 mile away from her old house, but has gone from Richmond borough into Wandsworth borough.
Both places are the same band - Richmond's annual charge is £1600 a year, Wandsworth's is £600 - so nearly £100 a month saved
Bonkers.

[Ginmakesitallok]

We're £240 ish for ct, in scotland , so sounds about right to me

[Scribblegirl]

Until a few months ago we lived on a road that bordered Wandsworth from Lambeth council - we were on the Lambeth side of the road. It was so unbelievably galling knowing that the other side of the road was paying at least £75 a month less than we were for the privilege of living on the wrong side of the road!!

Now paying £110 a month in Croydon for a 2 bed flat, which seems fair. I don't hugely resent paying Council Tax - the second I think about having to take my own rubbish to the tip, or sort my own recycling, I suddenly find myself delighted to outsource it! And whilst I know they're being cut, public services like libraries, subsidized leisure centres, pest control, park upkeep etc - I don't think it's a bad deal.

[PersianCatLady]

You're splitting it 2 ways
Are they splitting it two ways or three ways though?

Sharing with two others who work full-time and a student
I not sure if this means there is the OP, two full-time workers and a student OR the OP, one full-time worker and a student.

[PersianCatLady]

Both places are the same band - Richmond's annual charge is £1600 a year, Wandsworth's is £600 - so nearly £100 a month saved
I thought that you might have made a mistake there and so I looked it up and I can't believe that there is no mistake. What an incredible difference in price for just a couple of miles!!

[OnIlkelyMoorBahtat]

Mama Just to let you know that students are only exempt from Council Tax if everyone living in the house is a full time student themselves; so, you should be splitting the council tax between the four of you, not just the ones who are working.

Details here: //www.nus.org.uk/en/advice/money-and-funding/council-tax/

[KayTee87]

Ummm my husband and I pay £280 a month in Scotland (supposedly cost of living here is much cheaper than London )

[BeALert]

When I shared a house with a student she paid her share of council tax. She didn't want to, but we weren't getting any discount and we didn't see why she shouldn't pay.

BTW my property tax (US equivalent of council tax) is over £500 a month :-)

[MamaSaysItsAHardKnockLife]

I'm sharing with three in total: two who work and a student. We agreed beforehand that she wouldn't have to pay, and should only pay once she started work. It's a lot though, I don't know what to do!

[m0therofdragons]

Presumably,with 4 people living there it's a 4 bed house? My 3 bed in the West Country is £160 a month so it seems reasonable to me I'm afraid.

[19lottie82]

thats not overly expensive........ And you get to split it three ways!

[MamaSaysItsAHardKnockLife]

Yeah so there's four of us but one not paying.

No sorry i didn't explain, 60 EACH a month. Would be 40 each if student paid too.

[weekendninja]

I think you need to have a chat with the student about paying their share of the council tax. That will bring your monthly amount down considerably.

[MamaSaysItsAHardKnockLife]

It's £195 a month for a 4 bed

[Girlgonewild]

I pay over £3k and don't even get a single parent discount as am housing an adult son (as well as the children ) and he counts as the second adult in the household. It is all far too high. We need much much lower taxes and much less state provision in the UK.

[Girlgonewild]

(£3k a year...)

[badg3r]

To be honest you will be very lucky to find something in London for less than £680 a month council and tax included. That's just what it costs I'm afraid!

[MamaSaysItsAHardKnockLife]

The others and I have already agreed student won't pay though and I feel bad going back on my word. I hadn't realised how pricey it would be though