No he gets no mail as he never lived there he sublet house I ask council if they can send me his hmo licence form.
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well it would beā¦ unless you were passing on opened mail to a public authority 
Do you have his permission to pass this on to the council? Did you get him to sign a data protection form? Are you registered with the ICO?
If no, then do so at your own risk of him coming after you for breaching data protection law. Itās unlikely, but possible.
It is frankly unbelievable that you have to pay double for services that are not being used. I am currently refurbing a house which was empty for two years because the govt probate dept was so slow. So now I have to pay Ā£7k a year in council tax, for doing up a property while using no local services. It stinks.
But you were not liable until you bought it?
Take a picture of the correspondence, you donāt need to open it. They can see the various people that the letters are address to. Also send them correspondence of the communication between you and the tenant. You canāt prove he was resident as he wasnāt and he probably was registered with the council at another address & one canāt be in two places at the same time ( as their main residence).
Also tell the utilities that the tenant has moved out, they can send you confirmation of the utilities going into your name - you can then tell the councils to contact them for the name of the person that was in the bill. Just because itās your house, it doesnāt mean you are liable for all the council tax bills.. itās the tenant (whomever that is ).
Council tax departments have become more and more difficult. Im running into the same difficulty. Tenant has moved in, advised council tax. Not good enough, wanted proof. tenancy agreement. There web site will not accept the new agreements as there too bulky. Then said they would accepted signed, and registration numbers. Not good enough. Tenants details sent, so have been advised they emailed them, no response. Not prove enough. Suggest if they want proof, perhaps they should send an inspector around. They are considering it. In the mean while they expect me to pay the tax.
Lets screw landlords, even more, appears to be the government actions. Will be interesting as Labour has announced they want stop wanting to use hotels for asylum seekers. Donāt know where they plan to put them.
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Steve this is excellent advice I appreciate your thoughtful reply with all suggestions I will do all this too. Also my tenancy is 55 pages and it simply too large to load on Barnet council portal ! They make demands but their systems canāt cope !
You have to obtain a simple letter with the date they are vacating the property, I did this and saved Ā£1000 which they had me liable for, without that itās tough to prove he lived there, the fact he was paying bills is hard to prove and he could argue itās an oversight so I would show them proof of rent payments up to December 2024 which should suffice.
Proof they have paid rent, does not prove they lived there.
Well it did for me, if they are paying rent they are liable for Council Tax, I am stating this from experience not guesswork
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I agree. If the contract makes the tenant respond for council tax and they are paying rent they are liable. Occupancy is irrelevant. If it is unoccupied with a valid AST then the tenant is liable for the premium.
The n r l an are helpful in such situations.
They facilitated Broadly vs Leeds, after all.
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No one is arguing they are liable. I believe you may have misunderstood the post.
Ie they are liable but have told council the property is empty & unoccupied & so have benefitted from a period of free council tax.
Now that free period has been used up & their tenancy is ended the landlord is being charged double. Whilst it is still empty, the free/ discount period has ended & the āempty property double rate has kicked in.
Have I understood correctly @kalpnashah8 ?
Thatās absolutely bonkersā¦ What tenant would pay rent on a property and not live in it. I think your council tax office has a total nutcase working there!!
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Yes this is exactly correct the tenant was agent acting with our permission so seek hmo lic and this period he applied to council he had variety of tenants at house but he never lived there. Infact the house is showing in council records as someone living there who on council tax benefits so he doing a scam of sorts. Once my tenant left and sub letters left in Feb 25 he told council he left in Feb 24 so they doubled tax for me without asking him to prove his leaving date that is for me to prove!
This thread highlights a growing issue for landlords. Council tax liability rules mean that its the resident that is liable and if that cant be readily established, Councils go straight for the next person up the hierarchy. Usually the landlord. Tenants can lie about the date the moved out or in and Councils have become increasingly challenged by this, claiming they no longer have the resources to check. For them, its easier to make the landlord do that job and prove liability. Whilst that may be unfair, landlords would be well advised to keep as much evidence as possible that the tenant is living there, such as inspection reports and photos, regular correspondence with the tenant, informing all utility companies of the tenants details as soon as they move in and checking that they have registered for an account etc.
Request a delisting if the house in uninhabitable.
But donāt hold your breath I have 2 under application and one goes to the tribunal after a rejection notice and 11 months of fighting, and the other has not even had a decision after 8 months, their service is pathetic, their valuation officers are incompetent and, as usual, if itās to save you money they drag their feet.
55 pages on your agreement?? Sounds as if it is longer than the Bayeux tapestry
Yes buck bas stopped with me it is now for me to prove he never lived there. And they told me until they respond to a y evidence I give I have to continue to pay double tax and they refund me if I can prove it once they assess what I submit. Ball always in their court. Itās total nightmare I am glad my house is on market and will be sold ! Tenants are liars and I donāt trust none of them. House will stay empty until
Sold
When my council asks to see a tenancy agreement, I send them only the page with all the dates and names on and the page with signatures on. They have always accepted this.
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