Are exempt for up to six months from the date they first become unoccupied.
If a property is left unoccupied because the Council Tax payer is sent to a prison or hospital, then it will be exempt from the date they are detained until it is reoccupied. This includes people held in custody before a trial. It does not apply if the Council Tax payer has been sent to prison because of non-payment of Council Tax or fines.
If a Council Tax payer goes into hospital or a care home permanently leaving their home unoccupied, it will be exempt from Council Tax from the date they go into hospital or care home.
If the Council Tax payer who is resident in the property dies leaving the property unoccupied, then the property will be exempt from Council Tax until six months after the date of grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, if it remains unoccupied.
Properties are exempt if they are unoccupied because there has been some official action to ban people from living in them. This includes when properties are unfit to live in or where occupation is forbidden by planning law (e.g. holiday homes). It does not include situations arising from action between individuals or companies.
This exemption applies to properties such as vicarages which may often be unoccupied from when a minister leaves until a new minister is appointed.
This exemption applies if a Council Tax payer was a student or becomes a student within six weeks of leaving the property. It continues while they remain a student.
This exemption applies from date the mortgage company repossesses and continues until the property is sold or reoccupied. It does not apply in situations where people simply hand back the keys.
This exemption applies where the person who would be liable for the 'unoccupied charge' is a trustee in bankruptcy of the Council Tax payer who left the property unoccupied.
This exemption applies if the annex is unoccupied but is part of another dwelling, e.g. a Granny Annex, and under planning regulations it cannot be let separately from the other dwelling.
This exemption applies where Council Tax payer was resident but now has their sole or main residence in a hospital or care home (see next).
This exemption applies where the Council Tax payer was resident but now has their sole or main residence elsewhere in order to receive care. Applies in those situations where person needs to live elsewhere to receive care e.g. with a relative, but not in a hospital or care home.
This exemption applies where the Council Tax payer was resident but has gone to live elsewhere to provide personal care for someone else.
Halls of residence at Universities or Colleges are exempt.
Such properties are exempt. A student is someone attending a Qualifying Course at a Prescribed Educational Establishment. A school or college leaver is a person aged 18-19 who left school or college between 1st May and 31st October. If the school or college leaver becomes a student by 1st November, the exemption will continue. To qualify for the exemption any non student & non British spouse/dependent must be banned from working or from claiming benefits under the terms of their Entry Visa.
Any property owned by the M.O.D. for armed forces accommodation is exempt. The M.O.D. does, however, make a contribution to Councils equivalent to the Council Tax.
If all the occupiers of a property are under 18 it is exempt.
If all the occupiers are SMI or a mix of SMI & Students it is exempt.
If the person who would be the Council Tax payer has diplomatic privilege or immunity the property is exempt.
This exemption applies to dwellings which are occupied but are annexes to another dwelling and where the occupier of the annex is a dependent relative of the person who is resident in the other dwelling. A dependent relative must be over 65, or Severely Mentally Impaired or Substantially and Permanently physically disabled.
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