Responsibility for Council Tax

Who is responsible for paying Council Tax? 

People aged 18 or over have to pay Council Tax. To find out who is responsible for paying the council in your property, use the following list which shows order of responsibility. The person nearest to the top of the list will be responsible for paying Council Tax: 

  • resident freeholder
  • resident leaseholder
  • resident tenant
  • resident licensee
  • any other resident
  • the owner, where there are no occupants

A resident is someone aged 18 or over, who has their only or main home at your property. 

If there are two or more residents in your home who meet the same description, such as joint freeholders, they will be jointly liable for payment of the bill. This means that the council can require all of them or any one of them to make payment of the Council Tax. 

Married couples and those living together as spouses, or civil partners are also jointly liable. This is regardless of whether they have an equal interest in the property. 

If you are responsible for paying the Council Tax but haven’t yet registered, please visit our Moving Home page 

What to do if you believe you should not be responsible for Council Tax 

If we have told you that you need to pay Council Tax, but you disagree, please check the following first: 

  • If your tenancy agreement states that Council Tax is included in your rent, please see the list at the top of the page. If you are the only person in the property that features on the list, you are responsible. We cannot remove you. Please speak to your Landlord or Managing Agent to discuss how payments will be made. 

  • If you have moved out of the property, you will need to inform us that you have changed your address. 

If the above does not apply, please check the criteria below 

Tenants 

As a tenant you are responsible for Council Tax. Your responsibility begins on the date stated on your tenancy agreement, or the date agreed with your landlord that you could move in. 

If this is incorrect, please provide the following: 

  • Proof of your signed tenancy agreement or signed letter from your landlord 

  • A cover letter to explain who should be liable 

If you only have an agreement for the one room and are only paying rent for the one room you will not be responsible for council tax. However, your landlord will be, as it is considered a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO). 

If you only occupy one room but have a joint tenancy with other people for the whole property, then you will be responsible for the council tax. You will be jointly and severally responsible for the bill with the other tenants. 

Council tax liability after a tenant moves out

The law sets out that when a property is empty, the owner is liable for council tax. The owner is whoever has a material interest in the property - either with a freehold or leasehold interest granted for 6 months or more.

Assured shorthold tenancies

A common form of tenancy is an assured shorthold tenancy for a fixed term (such as 6 months).

A tenant with a fixed-term tenancy of 6 months or more holds a material interest and if they vacate before the end of their tenancy, they will be liable for the council tax until their tenancy end-date.

If a tenant remains in the property after the expiry of the 6 months (in the absence of any provision in the original contract  or a new contract being entered into), then the tenancy automatically reverts to a statutory periodic tenancy.

Statutory periodic tenancies

If a tenant reverts to a statutory periodic tenancy this starts a new contract, and if the rent is paid calendar monthly, then the contract runs on a month-by-month basis. 

A tenant with a month-by-month statutory periodic tenancy does not have a material interest in the property, so they are only liable for council tax while they are living in the property. Once they vacate, the landlord will be responsible for the council tax empty charge.

Contractual periodic tenancy

Instead of a statutory periodic tenancy, landlords can make clear in the original tenancy agreement that the tenancy will become a contractual periodic tenancy after the fixed period.

This means the tenant continues to have a material interest in the property as the extension is treated as a continuation of the original contract. 

Case law

Case law has provided clarity as to who is liable for the council tax once a tenant vacates.

In the High Court case of MacAttram v London Borough of Camden 2012, the judge stated that fixed term and statutory periodic tenancies cannot be joined together to make one total tenancy period of over 6 months.

Instead of being a continuation of the original tenancy, the tenancy becomes a new periodic tenancy and so the tenant cannot be regarded as holding a material interest in the property from the start date of that new periodic tenancy. 

In Leeds City Council v Broadley 2016 the High Court held that a contractual periodic tenancy following a 6 month fixed term takes effect as a single term and not as two separate tenancies. Therefore the council tax liability remained with the tenant rather than the landlord.

Landlord or managing agent 

Landlords are responsible for any Council Tax due, in the capacity of the property owner, for periods when a property is vacant with no tenant. 

If this is incorrect, please provide the following: 

  • Proof of rent received and a signed tenancy agreement 

  • A cover letter to explain who should be liable 

Owner

As a property owner, you are responsible for Council Tax from the date of completion of the purchase of the property. 

If this is incorrect, please provide the following: 

  • A completion statement or a letter from your solicitor confirming the date that the property was purchased.  

  • A cover letter to explain who should be liable 

If the property is not occupied, you would remain responsible for the Council tax. There are limited reductions available for empty properties.

If the owner has died you can find details of who is responsible for council tax on our what to do when someone dies page