To think paying 75% of the council tax is unfair?

[NotaSpringChicken]

Any council officers on here at present? Advice appreciated please.

DD has just moved into a shared house with another young woman. It is DDs first job after 4 years as a student and her first house share. The other girl is a mature student, still at Uni, so far so good.

Today council tax bill arrives. DD is expected to pay 75% of the tax as the other girl is a student and therefore exempt. This means DD picks up the whole bill with a 25% discount while the other girl has no bill to pay. She is upset and worried as money is tight for her.

Is the council entitled to do this to DD? She had expected to pay 50% of the bill and the other 50% to be covered by her housemate's student exemption.

[Alicesweewonders]

Like I mentioned, seek help from citizen's advice. I didn't have to pay it & I was in a similar situation. All the best OP

[needthisthread]

I think this is just part and parcel of being an adult. Your DD has just had 4 years as a student where she was exempt. Presumably she was happy with that.

[ivykaty44]

OP your dd can apply on the council website for “council tax reduction” you will often be able to get a reduction if your wage is low and this is in addition to the 25% single person discount your dd is getting for being classed as the only adult in the household

[NotaSpringChicken]

caringcarer

We have subsidised DD hugely over the last few years, but she needs to now be able to stand on her own two feet at last.

I posted for advice and will feed it back to her/show her the thread.

[strawberriesandsugar]

Tbh it will be good for your dd to realise the cost of living as a non student. She didn't have that as a studen as she lived it home. It's an extra £30/40 a month (on top of her 50% share) for 10 months of the year.

[ivykaty44]

Perhaps mumsnet would like to put a book together for teaching adulting to teenagers and young people, how to live outside the family home what you need to know

[PCohle]

I'm surprised this was a shock to your daughter. It's a certainly a well known issue amongst the 20 something flat-sharers I know. Lots of students choose not to live with young professionals because of it.

[ivykaty44]

Jon65 HB is only payable to people on state pension and people in supported living - ops dd wouldn’t fit that criteria. Though she could apply for U.C. But the UC doesn’t cover council tax reduction

[Emergencycake]

I do think it's a crappy system, but unfortunately that's what it is. Your DD either accepts and pays or she finds working housemates.

[ivykaty44]

Op the tax is probably divided into 10 equal payments April - January
Your dd can request 12 payments to reduce the monthly outgoings and have payments from April - March. Obviously there will not be two months without payments but having a 12 month payment plan can make budgeting easier if money is tight

[SheWoreBlueVelvet]

What amazes me is that the parents are sorting out their young adults living questions, even though the adults are obviously in no position to answer them.
What happened to kids moving out and being self reliant?
.I am staggered someone has done school, college and University and is still has no understanding how council tax works.
As neither apparently does her mother. This is pretty shocking actually.

It’s not a complicated law question.- it’s a household bill. What did everyone think poll tax riots were about. It’s a horribly unfair tax based on property value with no account for rental vs bought or personal income (aside from being in benefits).

[NotTired]

The bill is correct if your DD and the student have a joint tenancy for the whole property. If your DD is renting a room with separate tenancies the landlord would be liable.

[user1494050295]

I had this and I was the mature student and a flat mate moved in who worked full time. The flat was owned by a family member. It was up front that she had to pay council tax. Of course when she moved in she then asked me to pay towards it (I refused) in part because she was paying about a third less than market rate

[LaFreaka]

I was the student in my own home - I rented out a room to my friend who was on housing benefit - which made me liable for 75% of the council tax bill - I didn't realise and had no choice but to pay it - an expense mistake.

[Cla9]

Students are 100% exempt. The bill is solely your daughter’s but will have a 25% single person discount as she’s the only eligible adult.

[WanderingDaffodil]

I'm sorry it's a surprise to her but it's been the clear situation for many years. Part of learning to stand on your own two feet!

[GiantButtonsAreMyFave]

I graduated and moved into a houseshare where I was the only none student, I paid 75% council tax when all the other people paid £0. Your daughter isn't a student and so does not qualify for a discount. I returned to uni to do a higher degree living with my husband we again had to pay 75%, that's just how it works. You pay the same as what a single person living alone would pay. Our council tax is pretty high even with the discount but you have no choice but to pay it if you want to live in the real world.

She probably should have checked out what the housemate did before moving in. I knew before I moved into my houseshare years ago that I was the only one liable to pay council tax.

[NotaSpringChicken]

PCohle

Her elder brother lived out at uni and always shared with other students, so the issue never arose. She made this arrangement to share with a student herself, so will just have to learn from it.

strawberriesandsugar

It means she pays £57 a month extra on top of her 50% of the total bill. She has paid emergency tax on her first pay packet, so she is anxious about it all, but will have to learn to live with this.

I have noted and pointed out to her that her house share mate has moved her dog in, in spite of the tenancy agreement clearly stipulating no pets allowed. Agreeing to this may also bite her up the bum, but we learn by experience.

[grannieanne]

I was the student in my own home - I rented out a room to my friend who was on housing benefit - which made me liable for 75% of the council tax bill - I didn't realise and had no choice but to pay it - an expense mistake.


If a bill is issued to a Houshold though, the Benefit Claimant is still liable although their portion of the bill is reduced through their Council Tax Support; there is still an element for them to pay... I know someone in this situation , full time student house sharing with someone claiming benefit and CT support..

[NotaSpringChicken]

WanderingDaffodil

Quite agree was posting for information, thanks.

[NotTired]

LaFreaka was the liable party as she was the owner of the property renting to her friend. The Council Tax hierarchy makes the owner liable over their lodger.

[grannieanne]

NotTired

Ahh, thanks, I never knew that... in the case of the person I know, the property is rented from a landlord.

Every day is a school day eh ? :-)

[GottenGottenGotten]

I will never understand why council tax isn't per person but that's a whole other thread...

It used to be. It was called the community charge, and nicknamed the poll tax. It was incredibly unpopular and caused riots, and was more difficult to collect in part because it was very unpopular so people would move but not say where they were moving to, deliberately defaulting on payment.

[MyDcAreMarvel]

It means she pays £57 a month extra on top of her 50% of the total bill.
You keep mentioning her 50% , it is as much 100% her bill as her mobile bill is.

[FlagranceDirect]

My daughter shared a large house with three students when she got her first job. And yes, she had to pay 75% council tax.
As all other bills were shared this had less impact than if she had rented on her own. It was difficult to find employed adults who are willing to house share in the area that she worked. So not much choice really. However, she went into it with the full knowledge of her council tax responsibility.