Council says we have to pay full rate council tax?

bazaarboy

bazaarboy

bazaarboy

Associate
Joined
22 Jun 2009
Posts
813
Location
Norwich
hi - we bought an old bungalow with the intention to renovate or demolish and build a new home.
a structural engineer and our architect have strongly advised to tear the place down - it's in a very poor condition (the roof is falling through in a couple of places)
in fact the place has not been lived for over 4 years

we rang the Council and they said we still have to pay the full rate for council tax - this seems unfair, since nobody lives there and we already pay council tax in our existing home

i thought you can usually get some sort of discount, eg 50%, but the person on the phone said no!
help anyone?
 
I'm pretty sure it changed recently and you no longer get discounts on unlived in properties, there was a thread on here about it I think.
 
AFAIK it can only be done x times per residence.

Phone them back up advise its unfurnished, not fit for residence and there is currently no one residing on the land.

EDIT: Wasnt aware of recent changes mentioned above.
 
hmm it's not very clear, but it looks like since April this year you can't get a discount for a vacant home for longer than 12 months, and in my case this has already been used up by the previous owner
:(
 
I moved into my house in Feb and got 2 weeks free council tax as I told them it was un-occupied. No problems here, maybe the council are pulling a fast one on you?
 
bazaarboy said:
hmm it's not very clear, but it looks like since April this year you can't get a discount for a vacant home for longer than 12 months, and in my case this has already been used up by the previous owner
:(
Click to expand...

When is a house a house, and when is it some ruined walls?
 
My parents had a similar problem, their house was unoccupied (not empty) for years at a time while they were living/working abroad, council refused to give them any discount even though if one person was living there, they would get a discount. Rather absurd.

Still, I'm living here now while they're away for a few years, so they get their discount and I have a nice large house to myself rent-free.
 
Spamalot said:
When is a house a house, and when is it some ruined walls?
Click to expand...

good point lol
council tax and eligibility for a discount seems really complicated, and also varies from one local authority to the next...

I will look into it some more - mainly because if we have to demolish and build a new house it can take a couple of years - that's quite a bit of council tax we'd need to pay :eek:
 
I presume if it is demolished and uninhabitable (even if you then take some time to start construction) that you can't be charged council tax....but that is common sense, which clearly doesn't always apply.
 
nkata said:
Get planning approval for new property first. If it is in a row of similar houses, they may have requirements.
Click to expand...

yep, technically we'd be breaking the law if we knock it down without permission. so we'd need to get planning permission for the new build, in conjunction with a permission to demolish the bungalow
 
Skidder said:
I presume if it is demolished and uninhabitable (even if you then take some time to start construction) that you can't be charged council tax....but that is common sense, which clearly doesn't always apply.
Click to expand...

the only use the old building may have is to route a water supply and electricity outside, to help with the new build
the plot of land is large enough to allow the old place to stay up whilst the new one is built
but of course the downside is that whilst the old build is still up its liable for council tax...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom