Tips for avoiding paying Council tax on empty property?
simondsUU933w
Posts: 4,176 Forum Member
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So our late Mum's house has been empty for 9 months now and we're going to have to start paying full Council tax on it from next month (we've had our 6 months free period since probate was granted).
Are there any ways to get out of paying or paying less? I find it bizarre that we have to pay full Council tax on an empty property particularly when Mum lived there she only paid 75%!
The house is on the market but with not much interest.
Are there any ways to get out of paying or paying less? I find it bizarre that we have to pay full Council tax on an empty property particularly when Mum lived there she only paid 75%!
The house is on the market but with not much interest.
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We've looked into that before but sadly rents would need to be for a minimum of six months and the estate agents have said that any tenant wouldn't have to allow viewings - which would obviously be a problem
Sadly they've already sent us a bill. They sent us a letter a few months ago asking about the status of the property and I naively filled it in
Have you considered lowering the asking price? I can't believe it is impossible to sell a house in 9 months.
A firnd of mine let out a house she had for sale at a reduced rent. The solicitor added a clause to the tennancy agreement that said that in return the tenants would agree to viewings taking place. I think it even stipulated agreed times like weekends but don't remember exactly.
Why not? Easy enough to provide for it in the lease and/or find a tenant who doesn't mind. Of course sticking a tenant in might not save you any money overall.
If it already has the exemption applied to it then all the council needs is a calendar!
Yes. From the valued price of £210k to £175k!
Not a very good idea min 6 month tenancy, what happens if after 1 week a buyer comes along they are not going to wait till the tenants leave, plus why would any tenant try to help when it would make them homeless
How long has it been on the market for at 175k? If its been a while and its not getting any viewings then its still too expensive or there is something wrong with it.
As I said, overall it might not be the best idea.
So if there are two of you, one could register as being resident in each house and so get single person's discount on both.
Don't know the ins-and-outs of this but you might check out if this is possible.
To the OP ... I know EXACTLY how you feel having gone through the same thing. It was painful having to pay full council tax for an empty property (as well as your own home) when you have people on Housing Benefit complaining about having to pay £10 council tax each month.
My solution was to refurbish the property and get tenants in as quickly as possible. It may mean having to stump up quite a bit of money initially (the property had to be completely rewired) but a lot of the work was tax deductible and the annual rental income covered the initial cost and obviously I didn't have to pay council tax anymore.
Then she's taking a risk if she expects the tenant to be in to show prospective buyers around
What if the tenant doesn't bother to stay in at the agreed times?
The tenant wasn't expected to do the viewings, the estate agents did that, they just had to agree that viewings could take place. Tenants do have a right to refuse entry so that's why the agreement was necessary.
But in my opinion it's a pointless clause and arguably an unreasonable clause as a tenant has a right to peaceful enjoyment of what is, after all their home. Requiring a tenant to be in or allowing an agent almost unfettered access to theirhome is unreasonable
The clause is pointless as the tenant could simply refuse to allow the agent access
I'm not sure that helps tho
It's perfectly reasonable that a house wont sell, even if it's at a good price seeing as nobody has any money to buy.
The only time I'd say a house is guaranteed to sell is if it's in London (preposterous demand) or priced to clear (ie. priced at half the 'supposed' value).
A contract consists of an offer, in this case a much reduced rent, a return, in this case an agreement to allow viewings. I assume the solicitor who drew up the agreement knew more about the law than you or I (apologies if you're a solicitor). All I know is that it worked for my friend. That's my last word because this thread shouldn't be hi-jacked.
I'm not trying to hijack the thread, I'm merely trying to have a discussion anout an interesting issue, which although not directly related to the subject may nevertheless be of interest to the OP when they come to making decisions about their house. There's no need to be so prickly
Actually, I possibly do know more or at least as much as the solicitor who drew up the agreement - i know some people on here may be surprised but I do have the odd area of expertise
I'm not suggesting for a minute that it didn't work for your friend. I am suggesting that relying on a rather wishy washy clause in a tenancy agreement when trying to persuade a tenant to make their home available for prospective purchasers to view is a gamble for the owner.
The tenant could disregard the clause in the agreement in which case it would be necessary for the landlord to address that issue. This could be done in 3 ways
1) Dialogue with the tenant which may or may not be successful
2) Issue notice - I assume the property is an assured shorthold tenancy in which case it may be some time before notice expires and the tenant may decide to occupy pending court action
3) Try to enforce the "clause" which would mean going to court. Such a clause would meean applying to the court using a discretionary ground for possession rather than a mandatory one so the Judge may decide it is unreasonable and refuse to offer the landlord possession
In the meantime, of course, potential purchasers of the property can't get in to have a look and may go elsewhere
This would be fraud.
I think you need to concentrate on why its not selling. Maybe you need to give the estate agent a kick or even change agents.
Have you redecorated at all? Is the kitchen and bathroom up to date? These things can be updated quite cheaply and they are the rooms that sell a property.
You may want to think about how the property is 'staged' - people often find it hard to imagine living somewhere unfurnished but also have difficulty if the current furnishing is not to their taste. So if the current stuff is still your mum's they maynot see it as a place they want to live. Again it need not cost a fortune to re-furnish as the stuff doesn't have to last, just look nice now.