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Original poster

In-laws asking to be on our council tax but not living with us?

89 replies

AllIhearisMuuuuuuuuum · 10/08/2019 08:10

Sorry if this is in the wrong place or is a stupid question but I'm just wanting to gain come clarity on something.

My husband's parents have decided to sell their house and buy a static caravan so they can move up North. As the site they're looking to buy on isn't residential, they can only stay there for 9 months of the year and have to be able to prove to the site that they live elsewhere for the other 3 months. During this 3 months they plan to go abroad but have to provide a council tax bill to the site to show they have somewhere to go. As a result, they have asked DH and I if they can be on our council tax bill so they can provide that to the site.

My question is, is this classed as fraud or anything of the sort?

We have 2 children of school age and both work full time - we aren't entitled to any benefits so it wouldn't affect anything like that and they wouldn't actually stay with us, it's purely so they are able to buy the caravan they want.

Can anyone please help as they're asking us and pushing and we don't want to agree to anything that is going to cause issues for any of us.

OP posts:

Supersimpkin · 15/08/2019 21:05

This explains the advantages of PIL using your address:
www.checkmyfile.com/articles/2890/electoral-roll/keeping-your-electoral-roll-up-to-date-after-moving-house.htm

This explains why you could go to prison if you say yes:
By law, you need to provide the information requested on the household enquiry form. There is a criminal penalty of a maximum of £1,000 for failing to provide the information required by the household enquiry form. The penalty for providing false information is imprisonment of up to 6 months or, (on summary conviction) an unlimited fine.

www3.hackney.gov.uk/registering-to-vote

WYP2018 · 15/08/2019 21:17

I really think they should be paying their council tax like the rest of us have to!

greenwaterbottle · 15/08/2019 21:19

What are they expecting to happen when electoral roll time happens again.

SavingSpaces2019 · 15/08/2019 21:34

The story has now changed....They want to have our house as their 'fixed abode' and have their post delivered here - thing like GP letters and anything else not allowed a PO box

I hate to say 'i told you so' but......read my post upthread.

You do this and it will come back to bite you on the arse later down the line - 15 years of it....

BlessedBeTheFruitCake · 15/08/2019 22:01

Show your dh the above post about providing false information, hopefully he might have a change of heart.

MrsFezziwig · 15/08/2019 22:19

If it seems confusing, just keep this thought in mind:

they are evading paying their own council tax by pretending they live with you.

EileenAlanna · 15/08/2019 22:49

How much will they have from the sale of their house? Housing for the over 55/60 age bracket can be very affordable & you can find them all around the country. They certainly make better financial sense than a caravan. homes.trovit.co.uk/listing/1-bed-flat-for-sale-homemoss-house-buxton.1-41S1PtSJ1m

IChangedMyNameForThisQ · 16/08/2019 10:09

had a phonecall today of MIL pleading and crying down the phone that we need to help them and it won't affect them and is now being swayed

Ups the ante a bit . From experience, the more important it seems to them (you can safely ignore how they assure you that it means nothing to you) then the more dodgy it is going to be.

When we finally found out what had been going on, we discovered that we would have been not only implicated in - but guilty of - the fraud the PiLs were running. It's not just the incorrect details on the electoral roll, but the fact they were deliberately entered with the intention of committing fraud.

Even if you PiLs aren't (yet !) asking to go on the electoral roll, allowing them to use you address to gain credit etc is fraud. And you can't disclaim any knowledge when the balloon goes up.

It's totally up to the OP what they do. But speaking with the voice of experience this sounds dodgy as hell, and I would run a mile. The PiLs are either up to something, or trying to get up to something. At the very least gaining a genuine postal address without the inconvenience of paying council tax for it. The very fact it clearly has value to them should be enough to raise suspicions.

katewhinesalot · 16/08/2019 10:31

But what is the problem with them legally living with you and living in the caravan for however long? As long as you do it properly you aren't committing fraud. They just live with you, albeit for only a few months of the year.

katewhinesalot · 16/08/2019 10:35

And if they choose to be virtually permanently on holiday either in the caravan or abroad them that doesn't matter. They still have a home living with you, partying council tax etc, just they have lots of long holidays. If it makes toy feel better they can live with you for a week at a time every so often when they choose to come home.

AlexaAmbidextra · 16/08/2019 14:23

We’ll surely their latest ruse is still a problem? In that, come electoral roll time, you have to declare all adults resident at your address or run the risk of prosecution. If they are giving out your address left, right and centre as their home address then you would have to declare them for ER purposes whether they spend their nights under your roof or not. Honestly OP, I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole and suggest you take a very firm stance with your wavering DH.

Rockchick1984 · 23/08/2019 11:43

They can avoid any of these issues by choosing a residential caravan site rather than a holiday site....

IChangedMyNameForThisQ · 23/08/2019 11:47

They can avoid any of these issues by choosing a residential caravan site rather than a holiday site....

I'm betting that even if the OP researched, contacted, and made arrangements so that all the PiL needed to do was put one signature in one box, there'd be some "reason" why it's still got to be their way.

It's a key sign of a controlling relationships that problems are not solved, but that solutions are provided, if that makes sense.

Berthatydfil · 23/08/2019 21:12

I would be worried by the idea that once they are too old or infirm to live in the caravan/ tour abroad they will be able to buy a flat.
The mobile home will depreciate very quickly and be almost worthless with 10 years if the site even lets them keep it that long. Mobile homes aren’t cheap.
Have they actually done the sums - can they afford to do what they want, and have they thought it through fully?
To afford a flat in around 10 years will need a large amount of equity to be ringfenced and invested to keep pace with house prices (as long as there isn’t a house price cash).
They will need to be cash buyers as they won’t get a mortgage.
What if they can’t afford a flat and the mobile home or they burn though their cash?
What will their plans be then!
It would be more prudent to buy a flat as an investment / somewhere to move into in 10 years and this would give them the address etc they need.
If they don’t have the equity to do this and buy a mobile home now they definitely won’t have enough to do it in 10 years.

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