empty house, council tax

[legin]

Recently bought a house, tidied it up and subsequently sold. I have just received a council tax bill for it. It used to be that you got a

50 % discount for the first 12 months if the property was empty. I have been told that the exemption has been exhausted as the previous owner used the exemption some 8 years ago and that the exemption now applies to the property and not the owner. Not a real big issue as I will pay the bill, it will offset the CGT anyway but might be of interest to would be developers. The one point that I found strange is that had I occupied the property then I would have received a single person discount of 25% off the Council Tax Bill. As it was unoccupied there is no discount. Work that one out! Regards Legin

[Andrew Mawson]

owner

applies

property

AIUI for the first 6 months of non-occupancy there is no council tax payable so long as the property is undergoing works and is not furnished.

AWEM

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Recently bought a house, tidied it up and subsequently sold. I have |just received a council tax bill for it. It used to be that you got a |50 % discount for the first 12 months if the property was empty. I have |been told that the exemption has been exhausted as the previous owner |used the exemption some 8 years ago and that the exemption now applies |to the property and not the owner. Not a real big issue as I will pay |the bill, it will offset the CGT anyway but might be of interest to |would be developers. |The one point that I found strange is that had I occupied the property |then I would have received a single person discount of 25% off the |Council Tax Bill. As it was unoccupied there is no discount. Work that |one out!

You should have got a *reliable* young person to "house sit" for free.

[Jonathan Pearson]

Unless things have changed recently, if unfurnished / empty its 100% reduction for 6 months - the 'exemption has been exhausted' is rubbish Jon

[Lobster]

Not so - it's a different 'class' of exemption for an uninhabitable propety being refurbished, and that does certainly 'run out' as the OP described.

AIUI this is handled locally, so differemt rules for different councils possibly.

David

[Lobster]

I'd question whether an exemption 8 years ago has any bearing on your eligibility today - that sounds bizarre. It's certainly (normally) the case that you can get 100% exemption for an uninhabitable property which is being refurbed, however if it was already uninhabitable when purchased, and the previous owner was already claiming exemption, then that period counts towards the 12 months.

I expect the rule is to prevent loopholes, eg to stop 2 owners of a vacant property passing a property back and forth between them every 12 months. or maybe to discourage long-term empty homes?

Sort of (see above) - you get up to 6 months exemption at 100% on a vacant, habitable, property which is being let unfurnished.

The 'odd' thing is that you can be paying full CT (with single-person occupier discount) on an empty wreck you've just bought to do up, but as soon as it's habitable again (but before you've rented it out) you can then claim the 100% exemption.

David

[Robert Laws]

You might want to consider making it you 'normal residence' during the refurbishment, and paying CT (and resitering to vote their and telling thtax people you change of adadress). Then you get more relief from captial gains tax when you eventually sell it; you get the time you actually make it your home + last three years tax relief, plus you get 'lettings relief' if you let a house that you havem at some point, lived in.

Robert

[roybennet]

My experience is that the lying bastards will tell you you the first thing that comes into their heads in order to hang onto your cash. The Council Tax Handbook by CPAG is the 'must read' for anyone who thinks they can claim a CT reduction and should be read BEFORE talking to the council. That way when they start feeding you a load of bollox as to why you cannot have a reduction you can quote chapter and verse of the relevent legislation at them.

Roy

[N Ron Hubbard]

Empty houses are a waste of space. Property costs are too high for people who didn't get on the "ladder" years ago. Tough luck.

[Malc]

I second that!

Enfield council tried a similar trick on my elderly parents - telling them the exemption had been exhausted in an earlier period of vacancy. It was, of course, a load of bollocks!

Malc