Council tax/utility bills when not living in house whilst it's renovated..any experience?

[ChillYourBoots81]

Hi, we've just finally completed on a house after over a year waiting for probate etc.
We currently live in rented as we sold our house last year. The house we have bought needs A LOT of work doing to make it habitable (we have 3 children) so we will be staying in the rental until the new year at least.
This of course means we are paying rent and mortgage plus 2x utilities.
Has anyone managed to get a discount on council tax in this situation? Apparently the empty house discount does not apply anymore and it's looked at on a case by case basis. I've emailed our situation to the council over a week ago and still no reply.
Anyone else been in this situation and what happened regards council tax and other utility bills? Thanks

We just had to pay them. That's the deal if you choose to renovate a home while not living there and you have to build it into the renovation budget.

It depends on your local authority. I was eligible for up to a 12 week exemption on the basis the property was uninhabitable - though the definition means no kitchen or bathroom facilities simultaneously whatsoever, so wouldn’t apply to all renovations.

Otherwise as above, you just have to factor it into renovation costs and consider it part and parcel of the whole shebang which hopefully you’ll not be doing again anytime soon.

Most councils have tightened up a lot on discounts for empty properties. So there isnt a great chance on a discount being offered.

I've been in this situation and you just have to pay up I'm afraid, as Buffy says it's just part of your renovation costs. Most Councils are so strapped of cash that you will be highly unlikely to get a discount.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you will also need (expensive) empty property insurance, ordinary home insurance will not cover an unoccupied house undergoing renovation.
So the next time you see one of the "I've just renovated an entire house and come in under budget at £10800" merchants on Homes Under The Hammer you can laugh your head off like I do.

I didn't have to pay but there was no facilities - first job rip out bathroom then kitchen!!
They had to do an inspection on mine to make sure we weren't living there and I pestered them a lot and they said we had to pay at first!

It depends on your council. We got 3 months of no charge but we will have to start paying after those 3 months are up and we won’t have moved back in yet.

I had to pay when I got evicted and there was an overlap between the notice ending and my new tenancy starting. Two lots of rent and council tax for three weeks because the landlord decided to turn my home into a student let! There was no exemption.

I should also have said that it may be worth switching to an energy provider who does not have a daily standing charge, although you will pay a higher rate for what you actually use.

Different councils have different rules, which makes it very unfair I think. Where I live there are no exemptions. I had to move out to do essential renovations (house was in very bad shape). I had no choice but to move out as house was not habitable while the building work was taking place. So I had to pay two lots of council tax. Not only that, but I am a lone parent and was not eligible for the single person discount while the work was being done.

The whole thing has nearly bankrupted me.

Thanks everyone for your replies! Sounds like it's dependent on the area but if not we will just have to suck it up and pay it for a few months.
@ivegotthisyeah ours sounds the same, first job is kitchen, bathroom and old boiler out so definitely not liveable.