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Hi all
I bought a house a couple of months ago, stripped it out and I am currently refurbishing it with a view to moving in next month.
I contacted the local authority council tax dept requesting exemption during the work particularly as it has no bathroom or kitchen!
I received the following reply;
"A six month exemption was awarded to this property from 7/4/2012 to 6/10/2012 then a full charge waspayable . As any exemption is awarded to the property and not the owner a further exemption is not applicable.
We allow an exemption if the property is having major structural repairs . For this to be awarded an itemised report from a builder or surveyor has to be sent in and the account would the be reviewed"
Seems the previous owner got there first!
Now I know busnes rate relief works like this but assumed if a house was uninhabitable then relief would be granted. Note I am not having any 'structural' work done.
Thought I would see if any of you lot have any similar experiences before I pen a response. Or am I flogging a dead horse pursuing this further?
Cheers in advance
The exemption usually starts from the date it becomes empty, so when the previous owners moved out, as far as I know. Well it did with mine anyway.
I managed to get it extended as I was having building work done at the time but they did say if you're just updating fixtures/fittings (i.e. bathroom/kitchen) then its not classed as major building work. I had to provide details of the work, i.e. planning etc.
I had this recently.
The house was empty when I bought, as in your case the owner had used up the 6 months exemption.
I'm doing a full refurb and got a 6 month exemption under this clause. Over the phone I managed to drag out of them one of the main criteria which was 'removing of walls'. So naturally when the inspector came round... "oh yes this wall has to come out" 😉
I [i]think[/i] that it depends whether it was occupied in the meantime - so if it was recognised as occupied from 6/10/12 until you bought it, then it would be valid for a new 6 month exemption period.
ditto philw, previous owner had 6 months council tax exemption but you may have 12 months off due to refurb, so new exemption can only be for 6 months as previous owner got the first 6 months.
Ask council what the min period is to reset the clock & qualify for new 12 mth exemption, may be worth paying now in full if not too many months.
Good luck
Past the basic exemption for 6 months, extension is at the discretion of the local council, and agreed at the local level, so even if one council might agree in your circumstances, that doesn't mean your council will agree.
i had a similar thing and the council were brilliant when i called them. BUT, that was about 3 years ago and since then the way that council tax is handled, at least in cornwall, has changed drastically and they are now very aggressive when chasing your cash. now i am fairly sure i would'nt get a look in.
We allow an exemption if the property is having major structural repairs
...
I am not having any 'structural' work done.
Unless I'm missing something, you don't appear to qualify for an exemption regardless of any previous awards?
if its unoccupied and unfurnished, then he would qualify for a class C surely?
Considering most people on benefits are now having to pay towards council tax, i would expect property exemptions to become more limited.
You might be able to get a discount of up to 50% but you might not. All depends where you are.
Of course as a property developer you surely considered that you would have to pay tax on your investment lol
I got 6m + 6m extension due to 'overrun' of work.
'Structural' seemed to include uninhabitable - so I had to send them pics of the house denuded of both.
They 6m exstension was discretionary, so call them and sweet talk them.
BTW the time limit is part of the empty homes strategy so try and stop people sitting on perfectly good accomodat ion that can be used / let out.
Just been reading on this - seems they're wrong to only allow a one year exemption where the work is 'major structural repairs'
The correct rule is 'undergoing major repair work to render it habitable [b]or[/b] which is undergoing structural alteration, [b]or [/b]where these works have been substantially completed less than six months previously'
ripped out kitchen and bathroom are clearly major repairs under class A
Just going through this. Unless I can get a structural surveyor to provide proof that I'm doing wall or joist work then it's an no. And from April even that won't count.
Apparently having no heating, bathroom or electric doesn't count. If I had all these in but was altering a joist or two then I'd be ok. Do you know a friendly surveyor?