Council Tax / Legal help please

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

Man of Honour
Joined
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My GF is a full time student and she lived in a shared house of three prior to moving in with me at the start of this month. She has a certificate from her Uni stating that she doesn't have to pay council tax and she is also listed as exempt on the council tax bill for the house.

Is she required by law, to pay the other members a 1/3 of the council tax bill? Obviously all other bills are paid, but specifically the council tax?

She is on a limited budget and she only moved in on the premise that she wouldn't have to pay council tax as if it was included, she wouldn't have been able to afford the rent. The council have told her that she doesn't have to pay them and she has also spoken to the Citizens Advice Beuro and they too have confirmed she doesn't have to pay the council.

One of the house members is a complete and utter idiot to be brutally honest. He is a typical bloke that you would instantly dislike and I haven't liked him since I first met him. He is now being a complete pain, and has approached his works legal department to take my other half to the small claims court for the sake of a couple of hundred quid. He claims that although she is exempt from paying the council, she is not exempt from paying the other two in the house.

Can some legal type person or a Landlord please clarify what her position in this is?
 
Direct Gov Council Tax Site said:
But the rules are different if you’re considered a full-time student or not ‘counted’ because you’re in education or training. In these circumstances, you can only be held responsible if you - and only you - are in a category that’s higher up the list than all other members of your household (for example, you’re an owner-occupier and everyone else is a tenant).
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Tell him to go take a long walk off a short plank imo. I lived with 2 studetns while I was in full time employment, I knew the law as I read about it and knew I had to pay the tax myself (with a discount).

Direct Gov Sitehttp://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037422
 
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Unless she's agreed to pay the council tax in the tenancy agreement then he's got nothing, but I would consult someone who is a bit better qualified than myself.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
Unless she's agreed to pay the council tax in the tenancy agreement then he's got nothing, but I would consult someone who is a bit better qualified than myself.
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The agreement is a bit loose.

3. Where applicable, the Tennant will be responsible for paying his / her present or future liability for Stamp Duty Land Tax to the inland revenue

4. To pay during the Term:

4.1 The Council Tax for the Premisis; and

4.2 water, sewage etc etc

:confused:
 
MilanoChris said:
The agreement is a bit loose.

3. Where applicable, the Tennant will be responsible for paying his / her present or future liability for Stamp Duty Land Tax to the inland revenue

4. To pay during the Term:

4.1 The Council Tax for the Premisis; and

4.2 water, sewage etc etc

:confused:
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If the council have told her she doesn't have to pay CT then I would argue that 'where applicable' doesn't come into it. Exempt = not applicable, surely?
 
So what's the best route for her to take now? Seek legal advice?

Do you have to pay Solicitor's up front? We don't really have that sort of cash spare atm.
 
Citizens Advice Bureau would be a good start imo, but if she has a CT exepmtion certificate and she lives with someone who is not exempt the Direct Gov site is clear that she is not responsible.
 
MilanoChris said:
She did, only verbally though.
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If she verbally agreed to pay a third of the council tax then that is legally binding. Dunlop v. Selfridge is the caselaw I THINK, I may be getting confused. Been a few years since I've done contract. In practice though, no court is going to rule this way.
 
Ahleckz said:
If she verbally agreed to pay a third of the council tax then that is legally binding. Dunlop v. Selfridge is the caselaw I THINK, I may be getting confused. Been a few years since I've done contract. In practice though, no court is going to rule this way.
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No, wrong end of the stick, sorry.

She said, and I was sat at the table when it was said, that she would not be paying Council Tax as she was exempt due to being a student. The other two agreed.
 
do they have a shared tenancy agreement or individual ones ? we all had individual ones so we all got individual council tax bills. the ones of us with exemption certs never had to pay it and the guy who was working got sent a discounted rate for being the only person in the household paying it

tell her not to worry. the guys a moron and the council will be hunting HIM for money not your gf. why should she pay his council tax bill ? sounds like after years of mummy and daddy paying his bills hes finally realized that the real world is expensive
 
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Exempt means exempt. The bloke's clearly trying to scare her into paying for a small share of the council tax. Best thing to do as someone has already said is ring her local council offic and explain the situation. If they can confirm that she really is exempt from tax then the bloke will have no legs to stand on.
 
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