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Original poster

Can anyone help me re student council tax exemption?

26 replies

DieSchottin93 · 10/09/2015 18:02

Hi everyone,

I really need some advice on sorting out my council tax exemption. I graduated from uni this June and moved out my student flat 3 weeks later (the flat I was living in was specifically listed as a student flat). Fast forward to the end of last month and we still hadn't got our deposit back so I phoned our letting agency who informed me they needed proof of our council tax exemption and the leaving forms of two of my flatmates (don't know why they couldn't have sent us a quick email when our tenancy ended instead of keeping quiet Hmm ) before they can release our deposit so I filled in the necessary forms, uni has signed the stuff they need to etc. However I did phone the student services up at uni because they supply the council with a list of all the students who are exempt from paying council tax and as I was on a full time undergraduate course I would have been on this.

I tried phoning the council tax phone number the day I sent my form off to uni to be signed but it was one of those shitty automated ones and it kept asking me for my council tax account number. I have no idea what it is because I haven't received a single thing from the council about exemption, I naively assumed this was because I was a) living in a student flat and the letting agency made the council aware of this and b) my name was on the exemption list the uni provides the council Blush

I haven't had to deal with this before as I was in halls in first year, in a university sub-let flat in second year and abroad in third year. I genuinely had no idea you still needed to apply for exemption, and now I owe the council some money.

My course end date is stated as the 22nd of May and that's the remainder I'll have to pay from unless I can prove to the council I wasn't working then (which I wasn't, and I still have all my P45s and payslips from the last few years), however I'm hoping this won't be too much of a problem as I only started working again in August and I'm back at my parents so in a different area.

The council in question is Edinburgh City Council if that helps.

OP posts:
19lottie82 · 10/09/2015 20:58

Your council tax exemption has nothing to do with your letting agency or deposit. I take it the deposit is protected? If so contact the DPS to claim it back directly.

Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 10/09/2015 21:18

Thanks for your reply. Our deposit is protected by LPS Scotland. Do you have a link or anything where it says our council tax exemption has nothing to do with the letting agency so I can quote it when I have an angry phone call with them tomorrow ?

OP posts:
VodkaValiumLattePlease · 10/09/2015 21:25

If your deposit is in a protection scheme you should claim your deposit back online on their website.

Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 10/09/2015 21:32

I think with the protection scheme we're with the letting agency has to agree to our claim before they pay it back Sad if that's not done by the end of this month I think we get it back in full...

OP posts:
VodkaValiumLattePlease · 10/09/2015 21:57

You have to request it back, then the letting agent will request money from it if required, you can contest this if its wrong. The deposit protection won't hold your deposit for a council tax letter. Get on it.

Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 10/09/2015 21:59

I already requested the deposit back mid-August (!) and only found out about the council tax faff last week and submitted my application for that ASAP

OP posts:
beavington · 10/09/2015 22:15

Not sure I understand exactly what you're asking but ill try to answer anyway.

Did you and your flat mates sign a joint tenancy or single tenancies? If they were single tenancies or the joint tenancy agreement stipulated that you were each responsible for your respective bedroom and the communal areas (ie you have no access to other bedrooms automatically and one of you could be evicted for failure to meet the tenancy agreement and not all of you). If that's the case then the landlord is liable for the council tax charge and not you or your flatmates personally. You can assist them in proving your student status so that they can claim an exemption on THEIR bill but I very much doubt it is a condition of your tenancy that you do this. If you havent broken the terms of your tenancy then you shouldn't have too much trouble claiming your deposit back no matter if the letting agents dont like it.

If it's a joint tenancy whereby you were all equally responsible for the property as a whole, then you and your flatmates are jointly liable. I very much doubt that they would backdate a Council Tax Reduction claim on the grounds of ignorance but Im not very experienced in that. If I were you I would expect to have to pay the bill accrued from 22nd May. I'd also check your tenancy agreement regarding payment of council tax and utilities - if theres nothing in there then you haven't broken your tenancy agreement.

Im inclined to think that you haven't received a council tax bill, and that the letting agents want your student certificate, because you aren't liable, in which case you should be ok and there's no reason to start getting your p45s out. Just get onto the Scottish deposit place :)

Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 10/09/2015 22:25

Basically the letting agency won't accept our deposit repayment request until we can prove our council tax exemption.

I haven't got any correspondence of any sort (letters, emails) from either the council or our letting agency re council tax bills and part of me is wondering if the reason I don't have a council tax account number is because the council are already aware I'm exempt because of the list provided to them by my uni? Hmm

I'll have to request a copy of our tenancy agreement (wonder how long it will take them to email that Hmm ), stupidly I didn't think to keep a copy but I will make sure I have a thorough read of it....

OP posts:
beavington · 10/09/2015 22:53

If they want you to prove your council tax exemption then that sounds like you have singular tenancies and the landlord is liable for the council tax charge as it would be in their interest to reduce the cost of the bill by having proof of your entitlement to a council tax exemption. The council tax bill will have been issued to the landlord which is why you haven't heard from them.

They're being arseholes tbh. Im sure that you wpuld have co-operated if they had requested this proof in a more considerate and timely manner. I suggest that you call their bluff and call your letting agent and ask for a copy of the tenancy agreement so you can see where it states this condition that they are threatening your deposit over. You could do with the agreement anyway so that you can see for sure whether it's a single or joint tenancy. Also get onto the deposit people and see what the hold up is at their end. Im pretty sure that your letting agent cant just make shit up to them in order to withhold your tenancy.

VodkaValiumLattePlease · 10/09/2015 23:04

Did you request it through your lettings agents or direct with the deposit people?

19lottie82 · 11/09/2015 10:38

You DONT need an exemption very to get your deposit back. As advised ignore the letting agent and contact the deposit protection service directly to claim your deposit back.

19lottie82 · 11/09/2015 10:39

LPS Scotland 0330 303 0031

FishWithABicycle · 11/09/2015 10:50

How confident are you that all your flat mates were also on that list? If one of them wasn't (e.g. was only a part time student) then the whole property only gets a 25% discount rather than a 100% discount and depending on the wording of your contract you may be jointly liable for that.

19lottie82 · 11/09/2015 12:58

Fish Nope, only the non student would be liable for the 75%, not the students with valid exemptions.

FishWithABicycle · 11/09/2015 13:31

19lottie82 that's why I said depending on the wording of your contract - if OP has signed an agreement to be jointly and severally liabile for any unpaid rent and bills and the non-student (if there is one) refuses to pay then she could be.

Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 11/09/2015 15:40

Thanks for the replies.

beavington they are indeed being arseholes and have been right from the start Grin I asked for a copy of the tenancy agreement (our letting agent emailed to me this very morning, shock horror Shock ) and it says in our agreement: "The Tenant/s are required to provide written proof that all utility bills (including Council Tax; phone; TV License electricity; gas etc)...before any deposit can be returned"

VodkaValiumLattePlease I requested the deposit directly with the deposit scheme people, but the letting agency has to agree to our request within 30 days before we can get it back.

I am just away to phone LPS Scotland and also Edinburgh City Council to see if they can tell me anything

OP posts:
Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 11/09/2015 15:48

Oh, FishWithABicycle only one of my flatmates (let's call them flatmate A) would have been on this list because flatmates B and C were at a different university. We were all full-time students.

OP posts:
Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 11/09/2015 15:57

Fucks sake, council offices are closed already Sad but LPS have said if our letting agency don't respond to our claim by the deadline (29th of this month) they'll pay it to us in full then. Knowing my luck I'll have faffed about with filling in these shitty forms for no reason Angry

OP posts:
PeterParkerSays · 11/09/2015 16:06

Do you need a reference from your landlord / letting agent for your next place? If you're not getting your deposit back via them, it might be worth you thiking who else you could put down as a referee for a rental property.

Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 11/09/2015 16:18

Pfft I hope not, but I could maybe use the university accommodation office I rented through in 2nd year? I'm sure if I needed a reference they'd give me one, I had no problems at all with them :)

OP posts:
19lottie82 · 11/09/2015 16:48

Fish a tenancy agreement had nothing to do with who is liable for council tax. It doesn't matter a jot. Students are not liable full stop, whether they are sharing with non students or not.....

TheUnwillingNarcheska · 15/09/2015 07:20

I used to work in council tax. The list from the university does list all students but only certain universities would inform us if a student stopped being a student.

All bills we put into the landlord's name as it should be a HMO (House of multiple occupants) so each student has a tenancy agreement for the room they rent.

That way if a student leaves they can re-let the room without the rest of the tenants being an arse or the remaining tenants having to suddenly cover the rent of the person who left etc.

Universities will provide a "student exemption certificate" and it is the responsibility of the student to obtain it and provide it to the landlord who in turn copies it and sends it to the council tax department.

The problem here is that I cannot tell if you have your own individual deposits or they are amalgamated into one giant pot. I assume one giant pot because if student B damages the property it may well cost more than that singular deposit.

The letting agents could easily contact the universities attended by the student to ensure they were students but clearly they are being an arse about it. I would email them to tell them this, maybe leave the arse bit out.Grin It could well be that they manage hundreds of student lets and so this workload of phone calls is mammoth.

If any one person stops being a student then a charge is levied to the landlord for council tax at which point he kicks them out because it is a student let and they are no longer a student.

Hope that helps.

Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 15/09/2015 16:58

Thanks Unwilling Smile I've finally managed to contact the council and speak to a real person (thanks to Twitter no less Grin ) and they have amended their records to show I was a student up to X date. I know have 2 months worth of council tax to pay but seeing as my student loan finished the same month my course did the lady I spoke to said I could apply for a low income housing benefit thing for that period.

I also countacted LPS Scotland (the scheme our deposit is protected by) and they said our deposit will be paid in full at the end of the claim date (currently the 29th of this month, so not long) regardless of whether or not our council tax exemptions forms and whatnot have been processed - at least I know I'll be getting it soon!

OP posts:
Original poster
DieSchottin93 · 15/09/2015 17:08

Oops, that should say now instead of know Blush

OP posts:
TheUnwillingNarcheska · 17/09/2015 19:00

Fantastic. Really pleased for you.