Paying council tax on an empty rental property during coronavirus

[ratticus4]

We agreed to rent a property before the pandemic but were due to collect the keys the day of lockdown and so we didn’t move in.

As we were already in our own home 100s of miles away we couldn’t move. We notified the rental agency and the landlord gave us a discount on the rent.

We notified the council when we moved into the rental house and set up the utilities. The rental agency had presumably passed on our details to the various utility companies and council. Because everything is metered the difference between the estimated bills and meter readings will be obvious later in the year so that is fine.

The council however have issued us a bill for the period - so from March until we moved in and the new bill picked up (DH gave his middle initial so there are now 2 accounts).

The council say we are liable to pay this bill over lockdown but surely as the property was empty - and we can prove this through emails, the rental agency, the fact that we didn’t collect the keys, etc - and we weren’t using any council services, the landlord should declare this as an empty property and we shouldn’t have to pay.

Can anyone advise?

Many years ago, when we bought our first home, it was in a different local authority to the one we were renting in. We moved approx 2 weeks before the end of our rental contract - handed back the keys to the letting agency so obviously could not use the place at all. We decorated our new house so didn't actually live there for a week after getting the keys.
The new LA said it would be classed as an empty house for the week we didn't live there and then full council tax from moving day.
The original LA made us pay council tax until the date our contract ended, despite having already handed the keys back.
Each LA seems to have different rules. It might also be the case that the answer is different depending on who you speak to. Keep pushing it and try your local councillor or MP for support. Or there will be a complaints team at the council you can complain to.

I had a tenant move in during the lockdown. I had to pay the month between the two tenancies.

If you had a rental contract (even at a reduced rate) you will probably be liable for the council tax I'm afraid.

How long was it empty for? Many councils have a maximum empty exemption of 28 days and this starts on the first date the property is empty, regardless who lives there/owns it, so if you rent a property which is already empty then you may not qualify for this discount if it has been claimed by the landlord for an empty period before you moved in.

It depends on the council I think, where I am, as the landlord you have to pay council tax if the property is not re let- you get one month’s grace period.
If you were then the tenant then you have to pay the council tax. If you weren’t in the rental period then it’s the landlord.
Your OP reads as though you were the tenant but your landlord kindly discounted your rent. If so you need to pay the council tax but it would be worth a phone call to the council to check if they are discounting due to Covid 19 or if they can help in any other way.

We were in a similar position, collected keys days before lockdown but then couldn't move in until June.
I went over and over the council tax rules but we were still liable for both so just had to pay it :( It looked like there had been an exemption for empty properties in the past but our local authority rules said that this no longer applied.

You will be liable I'm afraid. You're named on a tenancy agreement and paying rent (albeit at a reduced rate). Your landlord shouldn't pay it because they are not entitled to use the property at the moment, as per your agreement. Could you see if you can get the single person discount of 25% seeing as it's been vacant? That's what I'd do!

If you signed the contract wef that date even though you haven't got the keys, you are liable sadly specially as you have been paying rent.

My council got rid of the empty houses exemption years ago, sadly. They say that it’s to encourage people not to leave houses empty that people could be living in...

I think we can apply for a 28 day tax free period once per year here, but you’d need to check that this hadn’t already been used.

Unfortunately the exemption for empty houses disappeared in 2013 so yes, you do have to pay it.

Some councils charge DOUBLE council tax for empty properties ! This is to attempt to keep property occupied

Councils are pretty hot on collecting council tax