Who should pay the council tax?

[Cavapoo123]

A couple are moving in together. Person A is moving into Person B’s house.

Person A works full-time, currently pays £1500 in house bills in their own place (rented), will only be paying around £700 once moving into Person B’s house (also rented). Person B has no children. Earns around £2000 per month after tax.

Person B doesn’t work due to ill health, is on disability benefits, also has a disabled child who receives disability benefits. Also receives £120 per month child maintenance. Person B’s benefits will go down by around £800 once Person A moves in, but will be making up some of the money by saving on some of the joint house bills that Person A will be contributing towards.

Person B currently doesn’t have to pay council tax due to disability exemptions, however once Person A moves in, the house will have to pay council tax again which even with the single person discount will be around £190 per month.

Who is responsible for this council tax bill?

But it doesn't matter what the reason for their exemption was. It matters that the reason they now have to pay is solely because of person A. Why should B lose money?

But the OP also states B has a disabled child. I am confused.

It only matters because if the exemption was due to a SMI then person A would only pay 75% ( which presumably they are already doing where they currently live)

A and B should continue living separately.

It's simple. Person B isn't liable for council tax so person A pays. You must be person A and you are trying to rip person B off, which is pretty tight given that they're disabled. They won't be saving any money, you will. Utility bills only come to around £200 tops in my house.

How on earth can you read this and assume op is A? The whole op is about how A should be paying so much much more!

Okay - so the OP has clarified re: child. When more people share a property then household expenses will increase as there'll be more water used, potentially more fuel used to heat water, more cooking, etc, etc. That's aside from the council tax position. I think you share the increase. If her position is that she needs to have the same money as before the person moved in living together probably isn't the right thing to do.

A would be an absolute fool to agree to move into a property, taking on majority bills, pay for their partners child and have no security and be made homeless at anytime!

Person B needs to stop thinking about how much better off Person A may or may not be. Person A's finances are nothing to do with person B.

Person A would only pay 1/3rd of the bills as they are 1 of the 3 living in the house.

TBH i don't see that this can be resolved easily and no matter what way it's cut it will cause resentment.

This isn’t any easy one BUT you need to work through the finances so neither A nor B is worse off, or should equally be worse off.

Given that £800 is just the bit she’s losing, and that’s she is losing, she must be getting quite a sizeable amount.

That is about 50% of the take home pay on minimum wage. Almost 50% of the partners full time income from working.

So yes - that is quite a lot of money!

Of course it matters that person B will lose benefits and might need to pay towards council tax when they are exempt.And A will be saving loads. B needs to tell A she can't move in.

Person A and person B are not financially compatible, either stay living apart or split up. Person A is self sufficient, person B and their dc are dependents - either on the state or a significant other. People who live solely on state benefits are only financially compatible with other people on state benefits. That's the welfare state that we've built.

Aa a mathematical calculation A could pay a sum which leaves B no worse off. So £1000 a month (£800 to compensate lost benefits and £200 to cover the council tax that didn't apply before). A would still be £500 better off than in current position. Does that work?

There are other considerations though in terms of whether A is getting no security of tenure for their £1k. And if the 800 is just covering the loss of benefits, will the rise in bills (other than council tax) be borne by B?
It's too messy. Stay living separately!

I actually read it the other way… OP is person A and is assuming that it’s person B’s job to prop them up…

A and B should not live together

Both parties should be better off when a couple move in together. If that's not the case, it needs a rethink.

This is what i think too, i keep thinking im missing something! Imo both should be a bit better off personA should pay about £1200 so would be £300pm better off and personb would be roughly £100pm better off ( 800 to replace benefit 100 ctax 200 extra food elec gas )

Tbh OP if you are B then I'm not sure why you are wanting A to move in with you at all? You're obviously not comfortable with it and will be worse off - what is the reason for having someone move in?

It's got off to a good start if you and B are already quibbling over Council Tax, it will only be tit for tat constantly between you both.

Don’t move your partner in - it’s your child’s home too and how will moving in an unrelated man be of any benefit to her? Children need stability, so prioritise her.

You can continue the relationship while maintaining separate households for the time being; however, the fact that you can’t even reach an agreement over finances is further proof that you are not a family and not ready for this step.

I think it’s on the person who is moving in to make up the difference between what the householder would have paid in council tax and what they are paying now. OP you mentioned the single persons’ discount - do you know that will no longer apply once someone else moves in ? The householder will need to apply for a discount on disability grounds, the eligibility for which varies according to the local authority.

Does the householder claim PIP ? If so can the person moving in claim carers allowance for them ? There’s an earnings threshold but it takes into account income tax and various other expenses like pension contributions before the amount is calculated. Before applying they would need to check out the effect on the householders benefits, but you would need to do this anyway as another wage coming into the household would almost certainly affect any means tested benefits.

Tbh if getting £2k a month that’s more then many get for working full time if on mmw

I agree with the posters who say that if PP A and B are moving in to form a family unit then the expenses must be looked at on that basis and shared equally. It would be different if one was a lodger or a tenant of the other. Since one party will be worse off in benefit terms but the other in CT terms then the only fair way is to assess the situation as a whole. I assume A and B are not married so officially the bill payer will be the property owner.

Person A’s finances are everything to do with person B. If they are on benefits of which any part is means tested, then any other household income will almost certainly reduce the amount payable.

£2k a month will include rent/council tax contributions as well as the money paid for the person to actually live on. If person B is disabled and unable to work then the amount of benefits paid are higher because it costs considerably more to live as a disabled person. Disabled people who work also get this support in the form of non means tested disability benefits, which will be a part of what person B is claiming.