God this is boring but do I REALLY have to pay council tax if I live somewhere for 4 days a week temporarily?

[WideWebWitch]

Sorry in advance for tedious subject but hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I live in Bristol, and pay rent and council tax and all other stuff there. During the week atm I work in Milton Keynes and am staying with ex mil in NW London and commuting. I am considering renting somewhere in MK as the nights draw in and the M1 becomes more boring BUT, if I rent somewhere to stay just Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, do I really have to pay council tax to a whole other council? It seems very unfair! If I stayed in a hotel I wouldn't have to pay it but I don't want to spend as much as it would cost to stay in a hotel. Any advice appreciated. TIA.

Imagine you would, yes. It's unoccupied places (mainly) that don't. Could look up the law but, unfortunately, don't have it quite to hand. Could you lodge instead?

dh says

you pay 100% council tax on the residence which is considered your permanaent home. You then will have to pay a percentage on the second property. This will be at least 50%, but depends on the authority - they all have different rules about this apparently.

Thank you both. OK, I guess I have to find out how much it is, if it's more than the rent (which is possible, we're talking a studio for 4 nights a week!) I won't bother. Thanks.

Put council tax exemptions into google, found this here I know it's Scotland but think it's the same as England

The 2nd residence may be considered main residence though if for 4 nights?

God, I'm getting a bit involved in this aren't I?

I'm pretty sure it would count as a second home WWW, and many councils are charging 90% on such properties now!

ha ha Tinks, get involved all you like! I'm only talking about paying £400pcm rent so I don't want that to go up by 50% inc council tax, on that basis it wouldn't be worth it.

What about a serviced apartment www?

dh says

you can tell them which is your main residence, so most people compare charges and work out the cheapest way of doing it. if it is pretty much half and half they would find it difficult to argue with you!

Hi roisin,
just writing you an e mail!

Just looked it up and it seems I would get a 25% discount on a MK flat and maybe a discount on Bristol too. Hmm.

Thanks janeybops! Gomez, they're extortionate, much much more than renting a studio. Looks like I'll be slogging up and down the M1 if this isn't any cheaper. I'd really like to avoid it though.

that's ok knew dh was useful for somethig=ng

We had to pay 90% for non occupancy. You get 25 % discount for single occupancy so it may be financially more worthwhile to declare it as that.