It is a pleasure to write with some good news about council tax for people living in shared properties.

By 31st March 2024 all tenants and occupiers of registered Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) should be free of paying individual council tax on their bedrooms following a change in the law. 

This has come about thanks to a much-needed change in the law last December following a campaign in which Nucleus and Ealing Advice helped play a significant role.
From  1 December 2023 The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023SI  1175 mean that the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) can no longer list someone’s  bedroom as a flat liable for council tax. 

These require the VOA  change all HMO bedrooms that have been classed as  ‘separate dwellings’ for council tax to go  back to being part of a single house assessment, with the landlord paying a one bill for the whole property. The great majority of HMO landlords also agree with this change as they did not want their tenant bedrooms to be taxed or their tenants have to pay council tax.

Nucleus first challenged this unfair policy  of taxing bedrooms in Earl’s Court in 2015-2016. It struck us right from the beginning as  being unfair, irrational and wrong in law to do this,affecting many people on low-incomes living in shared houses. 

The VOA policy was also being applied randomly and causing financial problems for both tenants and landlords being faced with multiple bills on one house (in one case the VOA  even listed a cupboard as liable to council tax. It caused a lot of hardship to tenants and some people were forced to move and some HMOs closed.

We supported the HMO Council Tax Reform Group in this campaign which drew support in Parliament and the result has been this important change.  We also provided evidence to Parliament in a consultation inspring last year.
It never was the original intention of the council tax ever  to tax en-suite bedrooms like this, or tax rooms that lacked cooking facilities where kitchens and common areas were all shared.

All HMO properties should now go  back to just one council tax bill from 1 April 2024, which should normally be paid by the landlord.
This change will also mean that regulations made in 1992 which intended landlords to pay for shared houses will be applied properly as they were meant to be.*
Nucleus is very pleased to have supported and encouraged this successful campaign to change the law.

Meanwhile it has meant some people havebeen left with old bills from before 1 December 2023. If you have  thisproblem in Kensington and Chelsea or Ealing please let us know. 

*The Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992 S.I.1992/551

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