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The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is calling for the government to stop charging landlords and tenants council tax on individual bedsits in shared houses of multiple occupation. The appeal comes hot on the heels of a report published by the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Private Sector, which says local authorities are targeting young people living in shared houses in order to make significant amounts of money.
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Tenants Paying More Than their Fair Share
Local authorities used to charge council tax on a shared house as whole, so residents living in a shared house only had to pay their share of the council tax bill. However, this has now changed as the Valuation Office Agency now class a single bedroom in a shared house as an individual dwelling, so each person living in a single bedsit is liable for their very own council tax bill.
This change in the rules allows local authorities to claim extra cash from the government under the New Homes Bonus scheme, even though, technically, no extra homes have been created. The RLA thinks this is grossly unfair. They say local authorities should introduce a 50% discount for bedsits, in the same way as they already do for “Granny Annexes”.
RLA Comments
“When young people are facing difficulties making ends meet, it is scandalous that some local authorities are applying full council tax bands to single bedrooms in shared homes, whilst using this to claim New Homes Bonus on homes that aren’t new. It’s time the Government stepped into to end this gross unfairness,” says Alan Ward, Chairman of the RLA.
