Council Tax relief for void period?

Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 29/09/2023 - 18:07In what way did the agent ba##s up or have any responsibility? I don't think you've read the post properly before damning the agent.

The OP specifically said that the tenant told the council. Agents just cannot stop this happening. In the current climate most tenants would do the same thing to get a month relief from CT.

Who's to say that the landlord has an entitlement to the relief ahead of the tenant (the tenancy may, of course, deal with it). Th tenant told the council they'd moved, which would seem to be true

At the end of the day it's a few quid. It happens.

If the tenant left before the end of a fixed tenancy expired they would be responsible for council tax and utilities until the expiry date.

If the tenancy was a periodic tenancy they need to give the amount of notice in accordance with the rental payment period. If they paid monthly then a full month's rental period notice is required. If any of their possessions are left in the property after the notice period ends and an end of tenancy inspection hasn't happened, with a signed inventory and they've not handed over the keys I would suggest that the tenancy did not end when the notice period expired. We're the meters read at the end of the tenancy or when they claimed to have moved out. Did they pay rent for the notice period?

If the tenant gave notice in writing I would recommend that you send a copy of this to the CT office. If your letting agent just accepted it verbally then I would sack them.
I had a similar situation when my tenant abandoned the property 3 months into a fixed tenancy and he handed keys over to a cleaner. I made damn sure that I didn't pay until the contract ended and I had no problem proving that the tenant was still responsible.

If the council gives a month discount for an empty property, this discount can be used by the tenant or the landlord. It seems in this case the tenant has used the discount if it was genuinely unoccupied and unfurnished when they claimed. They are liable for CT to the end of their contractual liability but if this period was covered by the discount then it is their discount. The landlord will be liable when the tenants contractual liability has ended unfortunately in this instance the landlord will not get the unfurnished discount because the tenant has used it. Very annoying I know. The landlord in this instance is lucky that the council still gives this discount and it would seem in most cases he benefits. Our council stopped this discount many many years ago and yes it is hard to have to pay the full council tax on a void period particularly when you are spending money doing work on the property. I do remember many years ago arguing that we should have at least the single person discount because the property was empty and no services were being used but it is a futile argument and then I realised it is not meant to be a fair tax, it is a punitive tax for landlords

Reply to the comment left by Georgina Roy at 30/09/2023 - 08:29
I fear you have over complicated this. The OP has not suggested that there was anything wrong with the tenant's notice/vacation. It's seems that they simply physically vacated before the end of the tenancy (as many people do for a variety of reasons). They then told the council they had vacated, which was not necessarily wrong as they had and maybe wanted to register for another property.

There are two separate issue here - (1) the ending of the tenancy and (2) the payment of council tax.

The OP is aggrieved that he has lost the cost of a month's council tax, which the tenant has benefitted from. If the tenancy absolutely forbids the tenant from claiming the exemption, then they may be liable to reimburse the landlord. If not then they have done nothing wrong.

Reply to the comment left by Slooky at 30/09/2023 - 09:58
Quite right.