Vacant property

[Skate]

Granted I can find this out by ringing relevant suppliers but just in case anyone has done it...

we are moving out of our house and into another but ours hasn't sold yet so we'll continue paying the mortgage on it but it will be essentially 'vacant'. I'm pretty sure this means we don't pay council tax on it but anyone know what you do about other things like water, gas and leccy?

Anyone else done this and have any tips or pointers we may not have considered?

i think water is free for up to 6 months and council tax maybe up to 12 months but be prepared for a visit from Council official. We had our house for 14 months before we moved in. Obviously we still used an element of gas and electricity (making tea for the workmen)

It's the house we are leaving that will be vacant so there will be nothing going on in it. Why will we get a visit from a Council Official?

The house we are moving to is my parents which we are buying but obviously can't until ours sells - we are paying rent on theirs, bills etc so basically that is our address and the one we live in now will be vacant till it sells.

Bump

I have a feeling they were talking about changing the rules, but when we bought our new house and renovated it while living in the old one, we didn't have to pay water or council tax on the vacant one. We had to apply and someone from the council eventually came to inspect and then gave us a year's exemption (house was a wreck and clearly would need a year's work). Water board wanted copy of council's exemption. We needed gas and electric for the workmen, so paid it, but if the house is truly vacant you can just turn off the gas and electric (though it might be wise to keep electric on in case you need to go there at night...just unplug anything that uses electric).