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Council tax

Who pays the council tax when you rent?

Usually you do — but not always, and the exception is worth knowing before you compare two rooms at what look like the same price. Liability follows a statutory order of precedence rather than whatever the tenancy agreement happens to say.

Which situation are you in?

You rent the whole property on one tenancy
You are liable. A resident tenant sits above the owner in the statutory order, so the bill is yours unless the agreement says it is included in the rent.
You rent a room in a house in multiple occupation
The landlord is liable, not you. Where people rent rooms on separate agreements and share a kitchen or bathroom, the owner is billed for the whole property — which is why an all-inclusive room rent is often better value than it first looks.
You share the whole house on one joint tenancy
All of you are liable together. This is not an HMO for council tax purposes, even though you are sharing, because you hold a single tenancy of the whole property.
Nobody is living there
The owner is liable for an empty property. Some councils give a short exemption between tenancies and some charge a premium on long-term empties; it varies by authority.

“Joint and several” is the bit that catches people

On a joint tenancy, every tenant is liable for the whole bill, not for a share of it. If a housemate moves out owing three months of council tax, the council can pursue whoever is left for the entire amount. Sorting it out between you is your problem, not theirs.

It is the same principle as joint liability for rent, and it is the strongest argument for keeping a record of who has paid what in a shared house.

If the rent is “all bills included”

That is a contract between you and the landlord. It does not change who the council bills. If you are the liable person and the landlord stops paying, the council comes to you — and you would then be chasing the landlord separately for money you had already handed over in rent.

Worth checking whose name the account is actually in, rather than assuming.

Leaving before the tenancy ends

Moving out early does not always end liability. Where a fixed term is still running and you remain the tenant, councils will often continue to bill you for a property you no longer live in. Ending the tenancy properly, rather than just handing back the keys, is what stops the bill.

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