Liability, legislation and general information about council tax

Who should pay?

The list below shows, in order of priority, who has to pay the council tax in a particular dwelling. The person who falls into the highest category on the list is liable for payment (1 being the highest).

A resident freeholder
A resident leaseholder
A resident tenant
A resident licensee
A resident
The owner (unoccupied property)

A resident is a person aged 18 years or over who occupies the dwelling as their only or main home.
If the dwelling is unoccupied, or the people there do not occupy the dwelling as a sole or main residence, then the non-resident owner will be liable. In certain instances, however, the owner is always the liable person (see separate note below on owner liability)

Owner liability

When there are no residents in a property the non-resident owner is liable to pay the council tax.

If the owner lives in the same property as their tenant (such as a lodger) only the owner would be liable for the council tax.

Additionally, the owner is always liable to pay the council tax in the following classes, even if there are tenants resident at the property:

Class A - A residential care home, nursing home or hostel
Class B - A dwelling inhabited by religious communities, for example monks and nuns
Class C - A dwelling inhabited by numerous tenants or licensees. This is usually referred to as a house in multiple occupation (see separate note below on houses in multiple occupation)
Class D - A dwelling inhabited by resident staff employed for domestic services that is occasionally occupied by the employer
Class E - A dwelling inhabited by a minister of religion in order to perform the duties of their office
Class F - A dwelling provided to an asylum seeker or under section 95 of the Immigration Asylum Act 1999

Houses in multiple occupation (HMO)

A house in multiple occupation is any type of dwelling which:

was originally constructed or has been adapted for occupation by people who do not make up a single household;

Is occupied by one or more people, each of whom
o is a tenant or licensee of part only of the house/flat; or
o has a licence to occupy the dwelling as a whole but who does not pay rent or licence fee for the whole dwelling

When determining whether a property should be classed as a house in multiple occupation, we will assess a number of factors such as:

tenancy agreements
rent being paid
use of communal areas
type of household and the relationships between occupiers
locks on bedroom doors

For most properties that fall under the HMO definition it is the rental arrangements that determine whether the landlord/owner or the tenants are liable for council tax.

As a general rule, a property will be classed as a HMO with the landlord/owner liable where each tenant has their own tenancy agreement and only pays rent for part of the property.

In most cases the tenants will be liable where there is only one tenancy agreement, with all the tenants names included for the whole of the property, and all of the rent due.

Sometimes this decision can only be made once all the relevant information is obtained from the owners, agents or tenants.

Joint and several liability

Where more than one person has the same legal interest in the property (such as joint owner, joint tenants or simply joint residents) each person will be held liable to pay the whole council tax charge.

Married couples and people living together as partners are considered to be jointly and severally liable (whether or not they have an equal interest in the property). You are considered the partner of a person if you are husband and wife or living together as husband and wife, or if you are civil partners or living together as civil partners.

If you are jointly and severally liable for the council tax, you are personally responsible for paying the whole of the council tax bill and not just your share of it. If you pay what is considered to be your 'share' but the other person does not pay their 'share' you will still be liable to pay the unpaid portion.

If you are jointly liable, you should make arrangements to ensure that the whole bill is being paid to avoid recovery proceedings being instigated against each liable individual.

General information

Your council tax helps to pay for a range of essential public services provided across Gloucestershire.

Our authority to charge council tax comes from the Local Government Finance Act 1992. It sets out a local authority’s rights to charge Council Tax to fund services and who is liable to pay.

Council tax is collected by Cheltenham Borough Council on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Police Authority and Parish Councils.

Your liability to pay

You do not have a choice of whether you are liable for council tax, as liability is determined by statutory law. If you are the liable person you are required to pay council tax.

Your liability for council tax is not dependent on and does not require your consent or the existence of a contractual relationship with the council.

If you have concerns over the charging of council tax, please seek proper legal advice before withholding payments rather than relying on internet sources.

Our responsibility to charge and recover council tax

The council is responsible for charging and recovering council tax, but this does not mean it introduces a fiduciary relationship.

Current legislation

The liability to pay council tax falls under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and later regulations. This is a statute created by a democratically elected Parliament of the United Kingdom which has received the assent of the Crown.

The legislation that covers council tax is freely available from the government website, including:

Council tax queries

We will try to answer all reasonable council tax enquiries.

We will not respond to enquiries that focus on the following:

ancient, historic or outdated legislation
requests for contracts requiring the payment of council tax
hypothetical arguments which do not appear to have any legal basis
unfounded notices, appointments or orders which have no grounds in law
wilful misinterpretation of the law
freeman on the land, sovereign citizens, strawman, etc. type correspondence

While we do our best to answer all relevant enquiries about council tax, we reserve the right to refuse to answer correspondence that focuses on unfounded arguments that have no basis in statute which use our resources at the expense of other taxpayers.

If you have concerns over the charging of Council Tax, please seek proper legal advice rather than relying on internet sources.

How to correctly challenge (appeal) your council tax bill

You have the right to appeal a decision regarding your council tax. Please visit council tax bands charges and appeals.

Making an appeal does not allow you to withhold payment of council tax. However, any overpayment will be allowed or refunded if your appeal is successful.

Acts and statutes

Some customers have asked whether acts and statutes are apply to them, about the difference between a statute and law and other similar questions regarding legal matters. An Act of Parliament (also called a statute) is a law made in the UK Parliament. If you have questions about Acts of Parliament or laws, these should be directed to a legal professional, not the council.