Council Tax Question

[nannyL]

Just wondering if anyone knows tha answer to this question...

I live in my house by myself and pay council tax and ebcause i live by myself i pay single occupency 25% reduced council tax.

My best friend lives with her mum in their house and they obviosuly pay council tax (normal amount cause 2 adults)

They are about to undergo extensive building works on their porerty which will take 3 / 4 months. Whilst they could live in the property it will be dirty / dusty / noisey / complete chaos etc...

SO her mum is staying over at their neghbours house (in their spare room) for the durtaio of the works...

and my friend is going to come and stay here. .. For 3 / 4 months or however long it takes.

During this time their 'official' adress will be there normal home, and her mum will be paying her council tax as usual.

My best friend wont be paying me "rent" but will contribute some £ towards gas / elec / water etc so I wont be out of pocket either.

Does anyone know for sure (Im assuming I dont?) that i dont have to pay full council tax for the few months that she is staying here?

(because im not sure at the moment she can actually afford to and i cant afford to subsidise her either, but i dont want to get into trouble)

As i say her official home adress will remain the same.

I'm not sure about your situation, but I know that if they are leaving their house empty for a significant period (particularly in an unliveable condition) they will be entitled to a refund on their bill. So, if you do find that you have to pay the full rate for a while, it would not be unreasonable to ask your best friend to pay it from her refund.

I know this because we were entitled to a refund from the day we moved out, when we moved to a different area and left it empty. I think the refund kicks in after 30 days or more, but you need to check this.

Ring the council tax office in your area, if it turns out you had to pay fully you'll be stung with a bill and even worse taken to court for benefit fraud, which happened to our neighbour, different circumstances though. Don't risk it... As Somersetmum said they're likely to get a refund.

based on this I don't think they will be entitled to an excemption

Because presumable the property will not be "substantially unfurnished" or repairs to make it habitable (I am assuming the building works are out of choice here).

Niot sure about teh liability on your property - as the council tax is property based not person based.

agh

guess will have to speak to her / her mum then...

For some of the time there will technically be a bathroom OR kitchen (and during that time no sink or running water in the whole house), so maybe they only be able to claim a refund for some of the time, cause at other times i think technically it will be habitable but they are choosing to move right out, and not move back in again until it is all done and finished.

thank you for your help

If they can get an excemption it will actually be cheaper for them to get an excemption and pay 25% on your bill (and maybe 25% to the other parties bill) saving them 50% of what they would have paid, with no-one being out of pocket IYSWIM.

slightlymad shrek... (thank you for your helpful link btw )

if there is just one person (ie 1 working adult, (they dont count children or students) then you get 25% off... otheh wise its the same no matter how many extra people

they always write to me that i MUST tell them immediat;y if it changes and another person lives here...

i just wonder where the border line between staying (as a 'guest'), and living is

That CAB site says...

"If only one adult lives in a property they will get a 25% discount on the council tax bill. When working out how many people live in a property, some people are not counted. These are called disregarded people. If everyone who lives in the property is disregarded, there will still be a council tax bill, but there will be a 50% discount. People are disregarded when they are:-

• living in the property temporarily and for whom this is not their normal home "

So it shouldn't affect your discount. But I'd check!

When DH and i had just got together i 'lived' in his house for 4 months with only the odd weekend away at home (he lived 180 miles away). I paid full CT on my house and he continued to claim singel rate on his. When we checked with council they said until i had officially moved in and stopped paying CT on own property i was not classed as living with DH. HTH. I would suspect you will be fine as a guest.

Hav elooked at your link again shrek...

it says in 'discounts' they dont charge for

"living in the property temporarily and for whom this is not their normal home" ... i think that would apply to my friend...

think to be sure i will definitely check with the council though... dont want to be fined or sent to jail, for letting my friend stay in my spare room while her bedroom is being bashed down and she has no kitchen or bathroom at her house!

I think you are spot on....you should be fine, but worth ringing to make sure they know what is going on.

At least you can tell the rules if they try and make yo pay