Rates only non student living in the house

[bruffin]

Dd is graduating this month but decided to stay on in her house as she has her friends are staying as they are doing masters or are medics.
She knew she would have to pay rates and gets a 25% discount. But its a 5 bed house band f house and will have to pay nearly £200 a month. Its the same as we pay for our own house.
Surely it would be farer if the council divided it by 5 and charged her a 5th.
She probably wont start her full time job until september

A lot of shared student houses specify full time students only precisely for this reason.

Has she signed for the new tenancy already? Did she not check how much it would be first?

If she can get out of it, living in a house share with other new grads may be better

No advice for the OP, but it’s still rates here in N Ireland - we never adopted the Poll tax.

@percypig

No advice for the OP, but it’s still rates here in N Ireland - we never adopted the Poll tax.

The 25% discount for a single person is Council Tax though. In NI only people over 70 can get a discount, of 20%.

I was in this situation and felt it was only fair for me to suck it up and pay it all. Otherwise would have been totally unfair on my mates who wouldn't have paid anything if they lived without me! Annoying but fair

We've been in this situation too. Had to pay. And she won't get 25% reduction if there are others there.

So you are suggesting that the council should base it on the number of people living there? Or bedrooms? Either way I don’t think that is workable. I live in a 2 bedroom house with my DP who is doing a PhD so I get the 25% discount. Based on bedrooms/number of occupants I guess you’re saying I should pay half but if we moved another student into our spare room would I then have to only pay 1/3 of the bill? The way it is set up now, you don’t need to recalculate as long as there is only one non-student in the household. If your DD can’t afford it then she will have to move in with other non-students and split it.

Surely it would be farer if the council divided it by 5 and charged her a 5th.

How is they fair on the other tenants who are exempt? It’s a shit rule yes, but it is what it is and it’s cf territory to think just because your daughter thinks it’s too expensive that the others should supplement her living. She could ask the others to chip in but honestly it’s her decision to stay there and they could easily fill the room with another student.

She needs to move and live with non students. There is no way to avoid the council tax.

Thanks for the replies , I was just venting and i know she will have to suck it up. She had budgeted for about £90 , so this bill was quite a shock for her.
Its the same landlord she has had for 2 years , and she was more than happy for DD to sign up for another year.
I very much doubt she will qualify for low income as she has will be fully employed soon, just waiting for start date (NHS) she is p/t atm

and she won't get 25% reduction if there are others there
She does because students dont count towards the number of occupiers (wales)

@MikeWozniaksGloriousTache

Surely it would be farer if the council divided it by 5 and charged her a 5th.

How is they fair on the other tenants who are exempt? It’s a shit rule yes, but it is what it is and it’s cf territory to think just because your daughter thinks it’s too expensive that the others should supplement her living. She could ask the others to chip in but honestly it’s her decision to stay there and they could easily fill the room with another student.

Where have i said they should supplement her living,! I am suggesting the Council split the bill and only charge DD a 5th as the rest are exempt

No, sorry you can’t ask them to split it. But it is a reason that many non students choose to live with other non students.

Legally and morally the students are not expected to pay council tax and won’t have budgeted for it. Your DD has a liability to pay. No one else does.

To be honest it’s an irritating system and she won’t be the first one caught out. Ideally the council tax rules would be changed to accommodate better this situation but they won’t whilst councils need every penny.

Her only two options are to pay the 75% in full or move out.

You (well, your daughter probably) need to find out if it is classed as an HMO (house of multiple occupancy). If so, the owner is liable for council tax, not the tenants.

Some useful info here (from Northampton Council, but I believe it is talking about nationwide tax rules):
www.northampton.gov.uk/info/200028/council-tax/2351/houses-in-multiple-occupancy-council-tax

Where have i said they should supplement her living,! I am suggesting the Council split the bill and only charge DD a 5th as the rest are exempt

That's completely unworkable and would be a per head charge. We got rid of poll tax years ago in England.
If wakes us and as England, Council tax is by property and you're either exempt or not. She's the only adult not exempt. She is liable for 75% of property council tax (with SP 25% discount) on a huge house. She made a financial mistake not moving in with non students & it's the price she'll pay for the lovely experience of staying with her PG friends.

Oh ignore that.

Rented Student housing is likely to be a HMO . My sons student rental contract with LL is that LL pays bills incl CT gas water etc, except their rent is far higher because of it.

My HMO property is exempt as it is occupied by students; however, one has ceased studying. Who will be liable for the loss of my exemption?
The property would still be classed as a HMO and the owner would remain liable for the charge.

My mother hated CT when it was brought in. Even with the 25% single person discount she (widowed mother with dependent child) was paying a lot more than the 5 adults (parents and three children) next door. Even worse, they had built an extension since moving in but council policy wouldn't review band til they moved out.

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

If someone you share with isn't a full-time student
The property won’t be exempt from council tax and you’ll get a bill. However, whoever is liable to pay the council tax might qualify for a discount.
For example, if you share with an employed person or a part-time student, they will probably be liable for 75% of the council tax bill. There is a 25% discount because there is only 1 eligible adult in the property. As the full-time student, you’re disregarded when counting the number of eligible adults in the property for discount purposes.
If you share with 2 or more employed people who aren’t students, they’re likely to be liable for 100% of the council tax bill, unless 1 or both of them qualifies as a disregarded person for council tax discount purposes. In this situation, the local council can only pursue the non-students for payment of the council tax bill.
Special rules apply where you live only with your non-British spouse, partner or dependant. Contact your nearest Citizens Advice to speak to an adviser if you're in this situation.
If you live in an HMO
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 is likely to be an HMO if it’s occupied by:
• more than 1 household
• 1 or more tenants who each have their own tenancy agreement

Apologies for using Rates instead of Council Tax. Im old enough to have paid Rates, Poll Tax and Council Tax.
Thinking about it my rates in Lambeth were 1200 for a one bed flat back in the 80s😯

My DD is in a similar position, though she lives in a 3 room flat with 2 others
who are still students. She wanted to stay on after graduating and we agreed to help her with rent and bills for an additional year. She has a p/t job but her profession is related to theatre and she is self employed so variable income.

It does seem unfair but there is nothing that can be done about it.