UPDATE ON SITUATION - Council tax amount for houses converted into flats

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

I'm moving soon to a flat. It used to be a terraced house which has now been converted into 2 flats (1 downstairs, 1 upstairs).Now I've never lived in a flat. Its always been houses. Whatever council tax band it is in should mean that the cost is shared between the 2 tennants due to them living in only half of the property, right?

[EvilBoris]

Not if it's registered as two properties with the council. Best to call the council/ ask your landlord.
I live in a building that was converted into 10 flats, but each flat had its own council tax to pay.

A quick google says that if the flats are self contained I.e you don't share a kitchen or living room, then each flat is subject to its own council tax. If you've been told otherwise then be prepared to open a can of worms when it turns out the landlord hasn't had planning permission for the conversion or is breaking some other building regulation.

[Flabio]

Yup, council tax is based on it being a self-contained property. It was one property, now it's two.

They base it on the approximate value of the property if it were sold. So as long as the flats can be on the open market seperately from each other, they're each liable to their own individual tax. A shared entrance hall or stairway doesn't count, they only count as one property if it's a 'lodger' situation, where you have your own room, but share the kitchen etc... communally (like student halls, for example).

And like Boris says, if the council still think it's only one, things will get messy.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Aww f*ck!

Man thats tight as hell! Property is a band D due to the area, so that means the council get 2 lots of tax out of 1 property. Basts!

I can see what the landlords up to now. Its been 2 flats for a while, but he never separated them 'officially'. What I mean is that the lady (or should I say old bag) who used to live in the bottom flat had a locked doors, but my missus didnt even have a front door or lock to her flat, so essentially you could still call it 1 property. You could just walk straight up the stairs into it, which did cause problems & for things to go 'missing'. It got so bad that she asked the landlord for keys to all her rooms to stop ppl walking into her rooms.
The house has a shared hallway & front door, but the landlord is changing that now, hence the reason why council tax thrown in with the cost of the rent b4. Sly sod!

We'll have to look into this further, cos if he hasnt informed the council this could be a long drawn out headache for all involved.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Right here's an update on the situation.

The landlord has almost finished converting the house into 2 self contained flats, each with their own seperate front door & hallway.
We spoke to him yesterday & had a look around. Its a nice flat theres no doubt about that, but when I questioned him about the council tax & when he would be informing the council that it was now officially 2 self contained flats he said: "Dont worry about that. You wont have to pay any council tax. I'll be paying it"
I asked how is that possible & he said: "Its easier this way. Its easier for you & for me"

Is this legal? He will be paying the Council Tax out of his pocket for the whole property, which is now 2 self contained flats but I assume he isnt gonna mention this to the council as if he did then they'd be asking the tennants for the CT.
I assume this is the reason he hasnt added fire exits to the property either.

If this is his plan then how do I explain to the Council that I'm leaving my current residence to live somewhere else, as they're gonna ask where I'm moving to & want to charge me for CT at my new place, thus bubbling him.

[endo]

He's clearly trying to stiff the council on the tax then. You're right, 2 lots of council tax should be payable - 1 per flat - to be paid by the tenants. It certainly sounds like he's done the whole thing on the quiet, avoiding the proper channels. I never had a 100% honest landlord in the entire time I was renting, but this sounds proper dodgy. Are you sure you really want to move into this place?

edit- if he'll be paying the CT for the place, it means he'll be on the council's records as being the resident. Which clearly isn't the case. Presumably he hasn't declared that the place has been split into 2 properties either so he'll be paying CT for the whole house. The separate flats need to be valued so an assessment of the CT due can be done. Unfortunately, I'm not at all surprised a landlord is pulling this kind of thing, but alarm bells would be ringing here for me.

[Flabio]

Not like you can get away with it for long anyway, the post office will need to know it's two seperate addresses and assuming you ever want to vote then the council will find out that way too when you register.

Walk away. It's a tennants market right now anyway, you'll easily find something else.

[koopatroopa90]

Yeah I wouldn't trust him enough to rent off him personally. Are you renting privately direct from him or through an agent? I'm guessing the former.

There was actually a Judge Judy case very similar to your situation the other week. Now I know that's in America but this type of let was actually referred to as an illegal let/an illegal flat. She ruled that the "tenant" did not owe a penny of rent to the "landlord" and actually could successfully sue for all back paid rent as the landlord was not entitled to it!

[Flabio]

Partly why for my next one I'm going to only look at ones where the letting agency is the property manager. It's more faff at times, but you know you're better protected from dodgy landlordness.

[koopatroopa90]

Thats what our one is actually. In our case it does mean they come and have a look at the flat once every 3 months but also means any problems are sorted out instantly. For example when we first moved in the washing machine wasnt working - plumber came next day. Then the inspector bloke came for our first check up, I mentioned some damp on one of the sloping roof beams and we have a guy coming tomorrow to look/sort it. He was a real nice chap the inspector too and is the guy that will always come round, so I'm happy with that.

Plus despite our previous landlord not having a leg to stand on, it took almost 3 months to get my full deposit back when the agent just collected the money. Stressful, annoying and a down right waste of time!

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

I'll say it again - Aww f*ck!!

I knew it was dodgy as soon as I heard he'd been letting to my gf without seperating the flats properly. Looks like he's managed to get away with it for a while tho & of course had no trouble due to there only being 1 front door & it all looking like an open house of lodgers.

Like I said I'm no expert on these matters, but alarm bells started ringing when he told us not to worry about the CT. How does he expect me to move out of my current place without informing the Council of my new place? And yes we would need a seperate postal address as it would need to be seperated into 'A' & 'B' or Flat '1' & '2'.

Its a real stress now tbh cos we stopped looking & agreed to the move back in July & its taken him almost 5 months to do some small jobs to the place. He looks after his houses well - no damp or any other problems, but this is a real sh1tter cos we were looking forward to moving in together.

I swear to god he's got a soft spot for my missus (& her sister as she lived here b4 my missus) despite being recently married & this is why he's being so nice about it all. He doesnt even want a bond or a months rent in advance, & has included a fridge, new cooker & a new fireplace in with the rent.

Too good to be true I guess. Balls!!

[endo]

Defo too good to be true. And if he routinely does things on the sly, you can't guarantee more important things like gas appliances, for example, have been installed properly. In fact, you could probably bet on it. Private landlords are almost always dodgy one way or another. Not fair on the good ones that must be out there, but I've never met an honest one. I'd walk away.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Well well! Check this out:

I found out from my missus that the real reason why he wants to rip the upstairs kitchen out so soon is because he has a dude from the bank coming round to value the property on monday. He wants to buy some land so is taking out a 2nd mortage on the flats, but he's gonna make it look as tho its still 1 house NOT flats by ripping out the upstairs kitchen & getting a better evaluation on the property.
So he's even diddlin the bank now

[endo]

Won't the man from the bank ask "why's your house got two front doors and two separate hallways"?

Dodgy bast, leave him to get on with it and find somewhere else.