Council tax

[nod]

As with last time As soon as we registered our new address in order to get the power on The local authority has driven past and deemed the house complete Despite not having any bathrooms kitchen stairs and just a temporary tap for water 

 

We got the power and had to register the address on our previous build As soon as we we’re watertight This time it’s been inconvenient doing without power But suspected the same would happen 

[Russell griffiths]

Just give them a call

i had a nice lady from the council come round, she could clearly see we didn’t live in it. 
and has also offered us advice on another issue we have. 

[Canski]

They work on a computer says yes basis. 

[Kelvin]

Yes definitely call. I’ve found our council to be really flexible with all of this and we are nearly done. They just wanted to know when we thought it would be ready.  
 

When we moved up from England to Scotland we had to rent the house for three months before we needed it as our house sale got delayed and we were struggling to find a suitable rental (we have two dogs) We got a bill for the whole council tax amount for the rental. I called them explaining the situation we were we in and they delayed the start of the payment until we moved. 

[Blooda]

Are you living in it?  

If yes - you will have to pay.

If no - ring them up. be prepared, read your original Planning Permission documents, there may be a statement that says, "...xyz......... must be completed before occupation".   Explain to them you cannot possibly move in because xyz is not complete and they told you that you cannot.

We used the lack of hard standing on the drive for that.

 

[Blooda]

Oh, if you have a Child who is a student in full time education, this is your trump card. Move them in as a sole resident, and it's 100% discount on council tax, there is a certificate they can get from Uni.

 

[nod]

Thanks for the replies 

 

They are trying to apply a rule that was brought in to stop builder’s stockpiling homes Ie Not habitable because there’s no loo and kitchen 

 

last time they came after us by saying we owed several thousand in arrears 

Evenen though we had no water Plaster stairs or any first fix 

The line was a builder can finish a home in 9 weeks start to finish You’ve had nearly a year 

and agreed to right off the arrears if we paid 50% CT For the three months before we moved in Seven months before sign off 

 

I’ve someone coming out later this afternoon

The house is quite a way off being habitable If our buyers push for June We will have to get a static on site Or book into a hotel 

 

See what happens this afternoon 

[kandgmitchell]

But it's the Valuation Office that decides the Council Tax banding and informs the Council what and when to start charging. I found them more pragmatic and (when you can get hold of them) helpful. We had a renovation project taken off the Council Tax list by them as it was patently unlivable in.

 

Until the VO have been how can they assess the band? When they do inspect they will see it is still underway and that should fend the Council off for a while. Keep up the fight!

[Temp]

I just wrote back to the address on the letter and told them we wernt complete and gave them an estimate of when we would be. They sent back a revised letter.