Is a "Council Tax Completion Notice" a real thing?

[epsilonGreedy]

My house does not yet have a roof yet it appears the local Council is preparing to levie full council soon. At present we pay Band A for the static caravan onsite which is our main residence.

 

In the post today is a form requesting that I provide start and completion dates for 13 major stages in the build of a home. At present I am at stage-3 "Outer Walls Build" but no roof.

 

My question is: does this info request have any statutory basis or is the Council fishing for info on some fabricated interpretation of the law, they have form on this i.e. using terrorism laws to track people cheating over school catchment areas. The letter starts "We have a responsibility to issue a Council Tax Completion Notice when the building can be completed within 3 months". The reverse side of the form warns vaguely I will be in trouble for not complying with the info request on two accounts:

 

1. One relates to failure to advise of a change of circumstances under 2013 regulation pertaining to Council Tax Reduction Schemes. Fair enough thinks I, when I move from the static caravan to completed house I will inform them.
2. The second states the Council has a statutory duty for tax collection under a 1992 Act.

 

I am tempted to play along at this stage and put "Summer 2022"  for the estimated completion question.

[ProDave]

Cue them to say "from this stage you should be able to complete in 8 weeks so that is when we start charging CT"

 

I am glad I have not had this nonsense, I have been building for 5 years.  On his last visit the CT inspector got a few feet in from the front door and said "you don't have any doors on yet, I can't possibly value it yet"

 

The alternative stance is to say yes it's "complete" but it is only half the size that was shown on the plans so value it as a bungalow, and then have cheaper CT for as long as you live there.

[nod]

Exactly 

Though we did have a room on 

But we did owe back tax from about the stage you are at 

Get ready for Barrets can build a house from start to finish in eight weeks

Its Something we all need to factor in 
 

My wife suggested that we don’t register the new address on the next one 

That seems to be the trigger 

We could of held off till service Conections But would have made deliveries a nightmare 

 

[ProDave]

17 minutes ago, nod said:

My wife suggested that we don’t register the new address on the next one 

That seems to be the trigger 

We could of held off till service Conections But would have made deliveries a nightmare 

 

We have not "registered" our address, I refuse to pay the council's fee for doing that.  The council do not seem bothered and have told me as such.  The result is the address is not on the Postcode Address file.  But it IS on just about every other register I have found, the council's own street naming register, the DNO and telecoms registers, the house name appears on the Land Registry maps (we did not inform them of the name) , electoral register etc. And it did not create a problem getting electricity, water, or telephone to the site or paying for any of them, and creates no problems with delivery.

 

The bigger problem with deliveries is google maps have messed up the position of the map pin for our postcode and now puts it down by the river well away from any of the houses in the postcode, and then sends you down a dirt track to leave you on the wrong side of the river.  I have to advise people NOT to use satnav to get here.

[PeterW]

They can only charge for a property when it is classed as a rateable hereditament under the various acts. 

 

I think you asked something similar previously

 

 

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, nod said:

 

My wife suggested that we don’t register the new address on the next one 

That seems to be the trigger 

 

 

In my case building control has been the trigger, my reasoning being that BC registered my plot under a strange hybrid mangled address and this is the address used to post the form to me today.

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, PeterW said:

I think you asked something similar previously

 

 

My previous thread was just an account of a random council visit to a nearby self build. At the time the tax inspector told me my build had been logged months earlier and the 3 month count down clock would start when a drive-by inspection noted windows had been fitted. She also said if I could demonstrate that I was a bumbling self builder the 3 month period could be extended to 5 months... not her exact words.

 

This latest Council form feels like a policy change, it is a bit like the modern policing tactic of phoning up a criminal suspect and telling them to voluntarily present at a local police station to be arrested.

 

What next, should I expect a letter from the Inland Revenue saying "Dear Sir, an NHS health bot algorithm has predicted your future date of death, please remit £10,000 to HM's Government as an advanced tax payment for future death duties!

[nod]

As I’ve stated before They are using a law brought in to stop builders stockpiling properties by leaving them without a kitchen and loo till they are sold 

While our solicitor stated it is totally wrong to use this against an individual self build They are acting within the law 

 

I can understand how you feel as it through us off track with the build while we where fighting it 

 

It would have been easier to take if the Country Counsul inspectors had been sympathetic and said look the rules have changed We are sorry but it is the same for everyone  But arriving with that attitude that you haven’t but you could Made  things worse 

 

 

[Temp]

They sent us a notice/letter predicting our Completion date. I just wrote back telling them when we believed we would be complete. That was a few months later than their date and they accepted it.

 

 

[Pocster]

Always tell the council to go F themselves. They try everything on ; thieving gits! ( I'm not a council fan....)