Council Tax

Who has to pay

The person highest on the list below is normally responsible for paying the bill:

  • Resident owner (18 years of age or over, applies even if the person is working away from home)
  • Resident tenant
  • Resident sub-tenant
  • Any other resident
  • Non resident owner (normally when the property is unoccupied)

Joint owners or tenants

If there are joint owners or joint tenants, who are liable for Council Tax, full payment can be made by 1 of them.

Where couples live together each partner is liable for the others Council Tax debts and we can insist on payment of the full amount from either partner for the period they lived together in the same home.

There are different rules affecting those who are classed as severely mentally impaired and students. If you feel this affects you, please contact us. 

Owners

In certain circumstances an owner may have to pay Council Tax for properties they don't always live in, for instance:

  • A property owner between tenancies
  • A landlord for a domestic home of multiple occupancy, that is,  where the occupants do not constitute a family and each occupier is entitled to use only part of the flat or house
  • A home, which is the residence of a minister of religion, from which he performs his duties of office (paid by the organisation that pays the ministers salary)
  • School boarding accommodation
  • A home occupied by a religious community
  • A home where a domestic servant has their sole or main residence to carry out their employment within the property, and where the home is occupied from time to time by the servant's employer
  • A home which constitutes all or part of a residential care home, nursing home, private hospital or hostel
  • A home occupied by asylum seekers who appear to be destitute. They will receive accommodation and other essential living needs under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and will not be eligible for benefits including Council Tax Benefit. The Regulations provide that the Council Tax liability for any accommodation provided under section 95, will fall on the owner of the property