I would appreciate some advice. My eldest DS is currently at Uni and has been living in a shared house over the last two years. It is categorised as a Student let for Council Tax exemption purposes.
During year one all went very well - lovely landlords who I, as the payer of the rent on DS's behalf, established an excellent relationship with.
However all changed when they sold the property. The new owners offered DS and his fellow tenants the opportunity to stay on in the house but made some significant changes to the offer, ie removed the dishwasher, the TV, deep freeze etc and raised the rent. That said, DS loved the house and the changes weren't big enough for me to consider an alternative when he was already settled there. He suffers from anxiety and depression and so the stability of staying on in the same place with his lovely housemates was a real bonus.
However the new LL's behaviour has been very odd, to the point that all have now decided to move to another shared house for their final academic year, rather than stay on. The LLs - a husband and wife team - seem to be hoarders and have gradually encroached on the communal living area so the students can no longer use the front room and the kitchen/diner is now half full of the LL's possessions (hundreds of vinyl LP's and various shelving units with bric a brac on them). They also removed access to the large shared storage cupboard and filled it with their own property which is their right of course, but is very symptomatic of their gradual annexation of the property.
Furthermore, the LLs, their grown up daughter and other assorted relatives, plus the LLs' two cats and dog regularly stayed in the property, using a room that is rented to one of the student group who has been on a sandwich placement so is away a lot. They did this with her permission as she is given a small discount on her rent for permitting the use of their room.
However they then encroached on the student groups' lifestyle - the wife emailed me to tell me that my DS should alter his PT job's hours as it disturbed her sleep when he came back into the house at the end of his late evening shift! They also told off the group if they had friends round or played music.. I hasten to add that a more respectable group of uni students you would be hard-pressed to find. My student days look positively wild in comparison! There are many other instances of LL interference in the groups' right to quiet enjoyment of the property, to the point that my DS became thoroughly frightened of them and particularly the female LL as she is extremely didactic.
I suppose this is all academic now as DS is not staying there but - predictably - they are now being a nightmare over the return of the deposits, making all sorts of extraordinary claims about 'damage' done. They had no professional inventory done or agent involved and I and other parents along with our DC cleaned the house to an immaculate standard and took numerous photos so my hope is that the DPS will see them for the charlatans they are and refund the monies in full. I am a LL myself by virtue of having to live in job-provided accommodation so am by no means anti-LL.
Sorry about this epic post but the nub of my question is that the LLs or their relatives and animals live in the property probably six months a year but I know for sure that the property is exempt from CT due to its status. Does their living there is this ad hoc manner mean that the CT exemption does not apply to them and should the local council be informed? They do have a house elsewhere in the UK which is their main residence and they travel abroad a lot. I am beginning to wonder if they have let out their main residence, hence their regular roosting in the student let. I've googled and looked at Gov.UK but can't find the answer.
Thank you