AIBU to think uni students should pay council tax?

[alwaysreadthelabel]

I live in a uni town. We have massive areas that were non student resident housing areas but are now mainly student areas. I cannot get my head round why students don't pay council tax. They use all the same services as non student residents, admittedly not for the whole year but at least for 9 months. They use the roads, bins, libraries etc. .... why do they not have to pay council tax?

I know some will say they can't afford it but that could be said about any household bill. It really confuses me.

I love these threads
OP- AIBU?!
Mumsnet - YES!
OP- I’m not BU, flounces off

Student's leave university with debt because they are out of mainstream education and in further education mostly everyone will have some form of debt
A morgage is a debt house is not your's until it's paid for
A car is a debt not your's until it's paid for
Credit card's are a debt
As far as i'm concerned if you a degree you have to pay for it
Student's also do very well in concessions
In my town on a certain day they get cheaper haircut's, two day's a week they get cheaper bar meal's and student's get cheaper bus travel, people on low wages don't receive any of that,

You know what I can see OPs point.
In a lot of areas students are a blight not a blessing. They trash houses and gardens, leave their rubbish everywhere, and generally treat their local area like crap.
The reason MNetters think students paying council tax is an outrageous suggestion is that they have, or expect to have, kids at "uni" who they financially support.
Now, I'm not saying people should directly pay for how much they do and don't use services, but conversely I am a bit revolted by all the "they will be important tax payers one day" comments! Yeah, they might not!

Yes, it's shit that students have to get loads of loans but they don't pay them back until they are earning over a certain amount.To put it in perspective I am only just earning that threshold and I'm old.
The 18/19/ 20 year olds round my local student area mostly live in 4/6 bed houses. The council tax split between them would be 15-40 a month each max.
They all seem to have cars ( often new on just add petrol deals) so they are not as poor as a lot of people I know.
And since when does being at university stop you from working park time? I did a degree whilst having a job and dc!
Well it's probably the same reason why those on a low income don't pay
Except they do. Even on jobseekers I had to pay £20 a month. And once on a fairly shitty income I had to pay it all.
So on balance I don't think it's as insane as some of you are making out.

i was surprised when I asked about this a while ago on here., to hear that the universities don't make up the short fall.
(I wonder if OP lives in my town.) all new builds are for students. that is annoying ( I assume because only the university can afford it)

They do pay it...
The govenment give them the loan..
If they paid it to the students as part of the loan, the students would pay, some wouldn't, so they just don't get it, it gets paid direct to the council each year.

As the mother of 3 potential university students in the future and living in a university town; no, students shouldn’t pay council tax! Shit. I’m already paying £199 a month...imagine if all my kids were in university around the U.K. and they had to pay that much a month . I would probably be responsible for that too if it was means tested or whatever. No way. Just no!

mummmy2017 that is interesting, so the government pay it?

ah, the poll tax riots. Happy memories of friends being damn near mown down by police horses.

YABVU, OP. You might want to bear this in mind the next time you see a doctor, or dentist, or nurse, all of whom would have been students at one point.

@HepzibahGreen
Well said non student's on low income are not exempt from council tax, they have to pay something
@Samcro
Quite a lot of new student flats built in my town to

What are they supposed to pay with?

They are in exactly the same position as they were in 6th form, except now paying via loans and support for survival money.

All you would be doing is creating a world of administration and anxiety.

Think it through...

Yes, as if you request students pay, their loans would have to reflect this cost, so it would have to come out of the government's pockets anyway .

Also house near a uni, cost more, have higher rates, and prices, are rented by richer people, who spend more money in the local area, plus the students themselves spend their money on food, leading to better supermarkets to cater to this need.....

Council tax needs to be totally revamped with new bands based on reality. Not students paying when some people in £10million pound properties only pay 1500 a year.

@WeepingWillowWeepingWino
Electricians, plumber's, bricklayer's, joiner's and gas fitter's are also highly skilled people they were classed as apprentices during 4/5 training no confessions for them
Doctor's, Dentist's and Nurses during there training were classed as student's plenty concession's, we all need electricians, plumber's etc just as much.

I worked for a government agency, one summer we needed a few extra hands (office move) students came, they didn’t pay tax so they were happy to work for a slightly lower hourly rate.

Just remember, one day they will Be pillars of society and paying their way, until then we give them some slack.

Much like the people who have 14 kids and everyone moans about the drain in the nhs by the mother, well those kids will all eventually be paying back into society. Look at the bigger picture.

My disabled son is on UC and has to pay council tax for his tiny 1 bed-£80 a month.

happypillock stop generalising. Not all students drink to excess or consume vast quantities of alcohol.
It would be us having to pay CT not her, she couldn't afford it despite budgeting extremely carefully. And as she's home for just under half the year with us, in the house that we already pay nearly £200 a month on, I don't think we should be paying twice

That's a very good point about apprentices in trades. Are they excempt? They do actually work full time too so can't easily get a pt job.

Perhaps they are not destined to be "pillars of society " though...

I think there are two perspectives here.
One is that students are adults, and many are financially independent and live in their place of study all year.
The other is that they are kids away at something like boarding school for 9 months a year and fully funded by their parents.
Are the parents also paying for all their cars? Because when they go away in the summer the streets are lovely and quiet.

People with Alzheimer's are exempt from council tax but my Grandpa still uses roads, lights and bins. The selfish old bastard.

People with all sorts of mental illness can qualify for an exemption. If there are two adults in a property, and one has mental health issues and gets an exemption, the second one then qualifies for the 25% discount.

I've saved clients a lot of money over the years by getting exemptions in place.

@CitadelsofScience
Happypillock ha ha ive never had a university education but have worked in one for 25 year's as a lab assistant in cancer research but i was brought up to show respect, ive never called anyone a pillock so feel free, YES there are a lot of student's who drink to excess, your daughter should pay something toward's council tax while at university she's gets her rubbish taken away, street lighting etc

happy but it wouldn't be her paying it, it would be us, that's not too hard to understand is it? Her maintenance loan doesn't even cover her rent.mim not paying CT twice I'm afraid.

Mim = I'm

Hep i think questioning things like students having cars is on a par with complaining about those in receipt of benefits owning big TVs. It's a slippery slope.

I think also that some of the OP's points come from living in an area where CT is obviously pretty cheap, if she's using £120 as a figure. Ours is over £200 pm for a 3 bed semi.

Also many unis now discourage students from working. When I was at uni, we were told that we weren't allowed a job and any student found having one would have to justify why to the SCR. Predominantly to make sure they weren't eligible for extra grants and things I think. If you could show that your grades weren't suffering then you'd usually be let off and monitored for a while. When it became known that I was on the ball committee (ie a uni committee), my tutor called me in to tell me that my grades had better not suffer! And I wasn't a bad student...

@WeepingWillowWeepingWino
There's a big difference between a tv and a car, you can get a flat screen tv from asda for just over £100, people on UC still pay something toward's council tax, car's cost a lot not just to buy, petrol, road tax, insurance, m.o.t., maintenance if they can afford all that they can afford to pay CT