Quick question, my contract states that council tax is included. I received a letter asking for payment, so I called my landlord and he said he’d sort it, unfortunately he has not and today I received a more threatening letter.

Am I right in thinking that despite my contract stating they’ll pay the council will stick me with payment.

Get not the thieving bastards (Council) and explain the situ??

You’re the ‘Liable Person’ so the council tax won’t bother the landlord. The landlord would only be ‘liable’ if it is a HMO or it’s unoccupied.
“Theiving bastards”….. yeah, course they are. Council employees ripping everybody off so that they make more money and get to keep the excess every month! I loved my time in Council Tax dept. I doubled my income every month by being a theiving bastard….
Idiot.

Yeah I’d be straight into the council about that, landlord paying your tax for you seems a bit of an odd one!

Pay the council tax and deduct it from your next rent payment.

Yes I’ll call tomorrow, why the hell can’t landlords be properly regulated in this country. They cause so much misery.

So as expected I’m stuck with it

I’ve only once had an arrangement where council tax was inclusive in the rent and it was where we were living in an annex of a larger house (a granny flat sort of) that in the eyes of the council was one household instead of two. If that was the case the case the overdue bill would be for the whole premises not just your share though

Are you in a similar situation OP – is your place part of a subdivided property? I can’t see why the landlord would want to be an intermediary otherwise.

Call the council and tell them your plight. They could (I did) put a hold on the inevitable summons and I’d refer you to CAB and/or Shelter but ultimately, your arrangement with the landlord is your arrangement. The council won’t and more importantly can’t discuss it with your landlord, even if they wanted to.
I saw this pop up so many times. You do need to get on top of this before the liability order is obtained at Magistrates Court. Costs escalate quickly. It won’t effect your credit file though but don’t let it get to summons.
Email in my profile if you need some help. I did 7 years on the council Court & Bailif team.

As a landlord, I am very surprised you have a contact that included council tax. It is not the norm. But if that is what you contact says, pay it and deduct it from the rent. The council will not want to know. It is not their problem

The house is subdivided into I think 3 shit flats. The one I’m in has a seperate entrance.

hmmm may it be the case that its not legally subdivided into 3 shit flats?

Are you renting a whole property or just a room in the property?

CT included seemed to be the norm when I was living in shared properties and renting a room only. Now me and the Mrs are co-habiting and renting our own houses paying the council tax ourselves seems to be the norm (and rightly so).

Edit: started typing above before you clarified. In that case, I’d get in touch with the council with a copy of your tenancy agreement.

really I’m lost for words, what’s the point in a contract if it means nothing.

I could deduct it from my rent but he’ll just keep the deposit and probably send round some lads so either way I’m ****.

If you’re receiving a council tax demand, in your name, it’s not been registered as HMO. You’re being held as liable. It could be that the landlord *has* told the council it’s HMO and it’s not been changed but as the council have your name, I would put my bike collection on your landlord being an idiot.
Be nice to the council people. You really want them on your side.
In the example above, the people were living in a Home of Multiple Occupation and quite rightly, the property owner is liable. Move into own property (owned or rented – doesn’t matter), the occupants are liable. Each person (unless exempted as student etc.) are J&S (joint and severally liable).
Any agreement you have with the landlord, even drawn in blood and cast in stone, is an agreement between you and the landlord and us a civil dispute that the council don’t and won’t get involved in. You’re the Liable Person. Sorry.

I’ll give them a call tomorrow

How is the letter from the council tax describing the property? Is it addressed to you personally? Is it addressed to your flat exactly or the building as a whole?

I’d suspect if the landlord is collecting council tax from the tenants its because he’s paying less to the council than he’s collecting (if he gets round to paying at all) – in other words the council maybe thinks theres only one or two households not three.

why the hell can’t landlords be properly regulated in this country. They cause so much misery.

The house is subdivided into I think 3 shit flats

A shit property is a fairly good clue that the landlord is going to be shit too.

I would stop paying the rent, pay the council tax then look for a new place.

I’ve got a feeling he’s trying to tell the council it’s a HMO, when I don’t think it is from what you are saying.

The house facing the high street as 42 High Street and my entrance is around the back and called Basement flat, 42 High Street. Looks like I’m screwed, I assume I’ll only pay for the proportion of the yeah I’m here for as I’ll be moving out without notice.

Thanks for the help.

Scotland, Wales and some parts of England have landlord registration schemes, some of which have the power to revoke an individual’s right to be a landlord – check if you’re covered by this and speak to the council.

Sorry to say, you’re in a bit of a fix. Definitely a seperate dwelling and you’re liable from the date your tenancy began to the date it ends. Tell the council if you live alone (25% SIngle Person Discount), if the property is rented furnished or unfurnished (Empty Property Discount) and any dates you were the tenant but didn’t move in.
The council are really not your enemy in this. In fact, they can be a huge help. Best of luck and chuck me an email if I can help any further.

he’ll just keep the deposit

I don’t know anything about your initial query but, he can’t legally do that. Your deposit has to be held by a protected third party scheme whose name escapes me, and if he’s not doing that then he’s breaking the law there too.

monksie – Member
Idiot.

Excuse me for having an opinion based on my experiences monksie. Never have I met a group of people so unwilling to deviate from their script. Council tax? – don’t make me laugh… Cant even keep the street lights lit after 12am round here for their £1200+ per year. Useless gits. My opinion & I’m entitled to it. End of story.

As above as both a landlord and a tennet its always been the tennet who paid the council tax.

OP if its included in your contract he should be paying it, send a copy of yoir contract to the council. Secondly based on Cougar’s post check that your deposit is held by an approved deposit protection scheme member you should have a certificate to prove it

Re: keeping your deposit. It will either be held in a TDS or he will have it in his own account and have insurance to cover it. Either way be will have registered it and you both ha e to agree on the amount you get back. So if he did try and deduct council tax you could explain you situation and in theory not be out of pocket.

Sorry Oink. I was harsh. I apologise.
The clue is in the title though. Council Tax. They really don’t have much room to deviate from the script but the people are mostly human and are usually very sympathetic when somebody is being ripped off. They pay council tax as well as everybody else.
Council Tax staff can’t and won’t get involved in the tenancy contract Jambalaya. Private / civil arrangement.

They may not get involved but it may buy you some time to sort it out and it may end up with the landlord getting a couple of calls or look at his affairs as far as the property is.
Next as above get your deposit checked, he can’t withold a deposit of he has not fulfilled his obligations if its protected, if it’s not then get on that you can receive 4x as a fine I think.
After all that get onto the process of moving.

A deposit cannot be with held for not payment. It’s for damage etc.

If the landlord did not lodge the deposit in a third party account but kept it himself,then as punishment he can be made to return 4 times the amount back to the tenant.

Russ beat me to it, but that’s correct. You can owe £1m in rent but as long as there’s no damage the landlord can’t take a penny out of the deposit.

Cougar – Moderator 
I don’t know anything about your initial query but, he can’t legally do that. Your deposit has to be held by a protected third party scheme whose name escapes me, and if he’s not doing that then he’s breaking the law there too.

Legally he can’t, but tonnes do. LBC have a “property hour” in the evenings which listen to on the way home from night rides and numerous times this comes up, the deposit isn’t held by the protected scheme, they’ve kept the deposit and despite attempts to get it back through the courts there’s often no power to get the money. There was one last week where an agency was doing this and the tenant took them to court over it, court ruled in their favour but still no money as they have mounds of debts. Also turned out they were scamming people for massive up front deposits and then refusing the letting and keeping the money. Then the company keeps disappearing and turning up under a different name every few years, probably to wipe the CCJs.

deadkenny, that’s proper shit. 🙁

russ295 – Member 
A deposit cannot be with held for not payment. It’s for damage etc.

And the other classic is keeping it for wear and tear, which apparently is not legal either and yet most do, even agencies. It has to be actual damage. Wear and tear is covered by the rent basically.

That’s a nightmare. I’d certainly speak to the Council and explain what’s happened and offer them a copy of your contract – they’re all difference of course, but usually if you don’t escalate anything verbally you can often work with them.

Legally it sounds a minefield, but if you can’t get the LL to pay what they owe I’d certainly withhold rent and pay the council tax, I guess most people know, but council tax isn’t like a bill for Gas, they can and will do all sorts of unpleasant things to make sure they get paid. I fell out with a former Landlord who basically shafted me for council tax for a period after I left a flat because it was uninhabitable – buried my head about it and thought it ‘went away’ sadly the next thing I know a nice lady from HR explained how they’d been in touch and they were paying a chunk of my wages straight to the council on my behalf.

Personally, unless CAB or someone can offer a better solutiuon I’d write your LL a letter, stating – council tax is included within my rent as per our agreement (copy attached) as it has been unpaid I am withholding £x to pay the council tax (receipt attached) and send it recorded delivery – expect a fall out come moving out day.

from what I’ve seen, it’s quite common to have CC tax included in the rent in London when all bills are covered.

Never saw this is in Sheffield.

And the other classic is keeping it for wear and tear, which apparently is not legal either and yet most do, even agencies. It has to be actual damage. Wear and tear is covered by the rent basically.

I got absolutley screwed by this last time I moved out of a rental.
The rental agency did a great job of photographing the house to make it look like the place was a state, when it was actually cleaner than when we moved in and there was no damage at all!
Tried to challenge it through the deposit scheme but the rental agency had incorrectly entered our details so we recieved no communication and then missed the window to complain by the time that got sorted.
They had nearly £700 out of us when there should only have been about £100 of reasonable costs.
They knew exactly how to milk the system and screw us
This was a year ago and i’m still fuming!

IANAL but I wouldn’t withhold rent or move out without notice or anything else which breaches your tenancy agreement – it allows the LL (who you already think is being dishonest) to justifiably position you as a guilty party… Don’t put yourself in breach of contract…

Get hold of the council and also think about taking legal advice, and then find a new place…

Man thinks he’s getting his tenancy deposit back

Sorry popped up on my timeline. 😆

Cant even keep the street lights lit after 12am round here for their £1200+ per year.

Good. A waste of money and more light pollution. Although that £1200 per year just for the lights is a bit excessive. I guess there’s another £1200 for the bins, another £1200 for the libaries, which they should keep open for 24 hours, lazy gits.