Council tax liability if one bedroom is locked?

Council tax liability if one bedroom is locked?

11:31 AM, 2nd February 2016, About 8 years ago 13

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I am renting what it is a two bedroom flat as a one bedroom flat. The owner keeps a room locked, never accessed it in 2 years (was told for storage). The property is band D and I think that the landlord is liable for council tax regardless of the AST agreement or whether they live here or not.lock

Am I Wright to believe so?

Jenny


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Comments

Robert M

13:58 PM, 2nd February 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Romain Garcin" at "02/02/2016 - 13:38":

Hi Romain

I had a 2 bed HMO flat, where the rooms were let separately, and when one tenant left, it was then occupied by just one tenant. The Council Tax dept still considered it to be a HMO, even though only one person lived there (as the remaining tenant did not have access to the other bedroom). Thus, I was still billed for that period of time. Should the Council Tax have been billed to the remaining tenant, instead of me?

Romain Garcin

14:42 PM, 2nd February 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Robert Mellors" at "02/02/2016 - 13:58":

Hi Robert,

I don't know if there are precedents on this to fully clarify the situation.

My opinion is based on the wording of the definition of a HMO for council tax purposes (Class C):
"A dwelling inhabited by persons who do not constitute a single household, each of whom either is a tenant of, or has a licence to occupy, part only of the dwelling".

IMO this can only apply if there are at least 2 tenants.

Mandy Thomson

9:05 AM, 3rd February 2016, About 8 years ago

You can live in shared accommodation and still have a tenancy, not a licence. A tenancy is created by the occupier having exclusive possession of the space he or she rents; whereas the landlord is entitled to enter the space rented to a licensee.

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