Landlords are liable for Council Tax if:
If a landlord is liable for Council tax, their tenant(s) can't claim Council Tax Support. However the tenant's Housing Benefit is unaffected.
Full-time students are disregarded when calculating Council Tax. This means that if your property is solely occupied by full-time students, you will receive a council tax bill showing a full exemption.
If there are non-students living with students, there may be a discount that can be applied, not an exemption. The maximum discount that can be awarded is 25%. This is because the students are not counted for Council tax purposes, so a single non student living with students will receive the same as if they were a single adult occupier. If there is more than one non student living in the property, there will be no discount applied.
In Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), the landlord is liable for the Council Tax.
To claim either a discount or exemption we need to know the full names and moving in dates of your tenants. For further information on evidence requirements for students please see the student details under Discounts and Exemptions.
As long as the same students hold the tenancy agreement and continue to study the same course, the discounts and exemptions apply throughout the university holidays. If the students change or they leave their course, tell us straight away so we can review the bill.
Please help us to reduce unnecessary paperwork, costly phone calls and visits by keeping us informed of tenancy changes immediately. This will let us provide a more efficient service to you and your tenants by sending correct bills, and awarding discounts and exemptions promptly.
You can tell us about a Tenancy Change using our Online System.
We need landlords to:
Although you may think it unnecessary for you to provide this information, the law does require you to give it, so that we can see who needs to pay the Council Tax, and how much the charge should be.
Please be aware that we can fine you if you do not provide the information we ask for within 21 days of the request.