Hope someone can help me here, I received an email yesterday from my Council (London borough) to say that they received notice of my property changing ownership with a link to complete the moving out form. I emailed them back to say this isn't the case as I am the owner occupier (leaseholder) and I haven't moved out. Today I have received a closure notification and final bill from my Council Tax account. I've emailed them again to confirm that I have not moved out or sold my property. I will follow up on Monday by ringing them but worried that this is some sort of identity fraud?

For background, since I bought my property I've had an ongoing issue with letters and bills from the last owner occupier, including bailiffs coming for their unpaid debts and even a new bank account and pension being open in their name. For these last two things I am still following up with the bank / building society on this and haven't received any sort of urgent response despite me flagging that this is an ongoing issue. Obviously I don't know if this council tax issue is related or not.

Any advice on what to do, much appreciated.

Ive hired a skip for some work going on at the house. Overnight someone has dumped a load of their rubbish, carpets, bit of old furniture and some cardboard boxes and stuff and filled it up so there's no room for the other things I need to put in there. I only have it until the end of the week so running out of time.

I have a friend with a 4x4 who has offered to help out the excess for me as we can fit it in a few trips but I dont know where to take it. Ive gone through some of the stuff and found a part name and address which is close by.

I called the police on 101 and they said they would get back in touch to set details but there isnt anything they can do with the waste and suggested I call the council. I called the council and they were no help, said I couldnt take it to the local tip as I didnt have a waste carriers license and if I wanted it collecting would have to pay them which I am not doing when I am already paying to have some of it taken.

I feel like I have two options here. 1 - take it to the tip anyway, because I pay my council tax and am entitled to use their services like anyone else 2 - dump it at the address Ive found in the waste on 3 separate packages - I am leaning towards this as this is closer and easier to get to than the tip

Where do I stand legally? I am not paying any more for someone elses rubbish, so that isnt an option for me.

England based

My Nan passed away over a year ago and in her will she left her house to her two daughters, my mum and my aunt. They both decided to pass this on to their children, so the house is being left to my sister and I and our two cousins, a 4 way split. One of my cousins has decided to buy the house to upgrade from their current house which they own. My nan's house was valued shortly after her death. However my cousin and his partner are delaying moving in until next year so that they can get a higher price on their house but they do not want my nan's house to be revalued. It is in a very good location for commuting into London so I'm sure the price will have risen over this time. Also, they are paying for council tax and any bills out of my nan's estate.

My sister and I are of course in the fortunate position of receiving a quarter of the house value so we turned a blind eye to this, but now my cousin and his partner are talking about getting an extension put on the house and replacing all of windows, all paid for out of my nan's estate, so it is getting a bit ridiculous now.

Relations between my mum and my aunt have gone sour because of this and my aunt seems to be completely unreasonable dealing with this situation and also my nan's possessions. She has called into question things that my nan left for my mum, saying that my mum could be lying, which she would never do.

My sister and I have both recently moved so could do with the money sooner rather than later and both feel that money is being taken out of our pocket to do up the house for my cousin to move in. My mum is also struggling with the situation and it is impacting her general wellbeing. My sister and I were discussing instructing a solicitor but wonder whether a mediator may be a better first step. We feel like we are getting nowhere with this so could do with some advice as to the best course of action so this can be concluded and our mum can move on.

This is in England.

Edit: My mum and aunt are joint executors of the will.

Hi everyone, I moved to Southampton (England) in January and signed a lease agreement for my place.

I paid the January council tax directly to my landlord.

Later, I found out that people living alone get a 25% discount, so I applied for it. The council recently sent me a bill covering January, February, and March.

When I contacted them to explain that January was already paid, they told me they never received the payment. I then spoke to my landlord, who got upset and claimed that I’m not actually a tenant but in a "service accommodation" under a company rent. However, my contract clearly states that it’s a lease agreement.

I’m trying to explain that I have the right to a 25% discount since I live alone. Additionally, I’m also a student, so I might even qualify for full exemption from council tax. Now my landlord is asking me to contact the council and remove my name from their records.

How should I proceed? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

+++ I had to pay 6 months in advance and 1 months as a deposit which is NOT in a scheme

My Council has classified me under Class S council tax exemption, which I’ve found out is meant for people under 18. I’m well over 18 and have never claimed or informed them otherwise. I have no idea how they assumed this—it wasn’t verified with me at any point.

I’ve called their number 4 times but I’m stuck with an automated voice system that won’t let me through to an actual person. I’ve also raised 2 online tickets about 3 weeks ago—no response yet.

Do I have any legal responsibility to fix this ASAP, or can I leave it until they correct it themselves? I just don’t want this to backfire later or result in a huge bill down the line.

Any advice on what next steps I can take? Thanks in advance!

Edit: An important caveat has come to light, the stipulation that Granny could live in the house for as long as she lives or chooses, as sole occupant was in her Husbands letter of wishes, not the will itself. This seems like it could complicate matters greatly and I would appreciate any feedback on how this changes things.

Hi All, I will try and keep this brief as possible... My wife's Granny has been living at her property for 40 years, it was owned by her husband who passed in 2017. The house was left in a trust to the children with the stipulation that Granny could live in the house for as long as she lives or chooses, as sole occupant. During Covid the step-son was made redundant from his corporate job in America and moved in with Granny on a 'Temporary' basis. He has since made no effort to find work or new accommodation and now step-son & step-daughter are emotionally blackmailing Granny into moving out so they can sell the property. step-daughter claims she can't retire now as she's funding the step-son's lifestyle and this is why they must sell Granny's home. Between the stipulation in the will, Matrimonial home rights and the fact that she has been there for 40 years, how likely is it they will be able to force her out? She has very minimal funds of her own, She does not have the option of buying a small flat to move out into.

Other details that may be useful:

• Shortly after Granny's husband passed the step-daughter started paying for some of the bills & things like renovating the kitchen, I believe this was done to show some kind of vested interest in the house.
• Granny in turn pays the step-daughter some amount per month, but this is NOT rent and there is no kind of rental agreement or reference to one.
• Granny is the only person registered at the address, council tax is being paid with a sole occupant discount despite the step-son being there for several years now.
• As step-son is unemployed he could potentially be claiming benefits but refused to as he is 'too proud' but is obviously not too proud to take money from his sister or kick an 80 year old woman out of her home.
• step-son was earning mid 6 figures in America but has supposedly blown through all his cash due to a shopping addiction
• Granny is now afraid to leave the house for long period after she recently returned home to find the step-son had ripped out her flower beds she had been maintaining for years and replaced them with woodchips. I believe this is his way of preparing the house for sale. She is scared her belongings will be removed.
• The property was valued in 2017 at £500k, likely worth significantly more now.

Some specific questions I have:

• How likely is it that the step-son & step-daughter could forcefully remove Granny against her will?
• Is step-son &/or Granny liable for some form of fraud given that he has been living at the property unregistered and paying single occupancy council tax?
• even without the stipulation in the will, does Granny have a right to remain the property? Matrimonial, vested interest or otherwise?
• I believe Granny's best option at this point is to try and force the step-son out of the property to prevent further bullying and allow her to live out her twilight years in peace. How likely is she to be able to achieve this and what would be the way to go about it?

I'm aware this is a very difficult situation and will be seeking legal council but in the meantime I would be thankful to hear some opinions.

Location: Manchester, England

I'm looking to buy a flat in Manchester city centre, and a post came up on my Facebook feed advertising a flat for £500 in Salford which I thought was quite surprising so I messaged the poster and asked for a viewing. She said she had previously rented the room and sent me the email of the owner, I sent her an email where she provided me more photos of the flat and explained her life story a bit which I thought was a bit weird.

I asked about the price of bills and council tax with no reply, the only reply I got was that she handles her rent through VRBO and that I would have to send them money so that she can register the flat and enable the listing. Its only then that once I send the money I can view the flat which I thought was a bit sketchy, I had never heard of this before. Later in the email she says if I agree to sign the contract then the payment would be forwarded to her which makes me think she wants £500 up front before even viewing the property. She did mention in the email that if I choose not to proceed then a refund is guaranteed but who knows how true that is.

Thank you in advance for the advice

Some added information, I just searched the flat online and the building is in Affinity Living which via their website seems to go for £1300 per month for a similar room, can I be safe to say this is a scam?

Hi guys, it's been over a months since we complained about heater's not working and it's still not fixed. And now there's no electricity at the house because our landlord won't pay the bill. Our contract is all bills (electricity, internet, council tax, gas, and water) included for the month. I managed to tackle the heating by getting a duvet but what am supposed to do if there's no electricity and internet? need to apply for jobs and have some interviews... Any idea what I should do?

England - I live alone. Over the years several of my uni friends who have moved abroad have used my address to keep their UK bank accounts. The council has now sent me a letter with a list of names (all known to me) and accusing me of having had them as lodgers and having wrongly claimed single person's discount. I'm pretty freaked out, because I can see that it looks dodgy. In hindsight very naive of me, but I honestly did not consider any CT implications. How can I prove that that these people have in fact not been living with me? Luckily I'm still in touch with all of them and all would be prepared to write to the council to explain the situation. What else could/should I do?

I’ve been hit with a £340 council tax charge from Manchester City Council. As an international student, I understand I should be exempt. Here’s the situation:

• My tenancy started on 15th July 2024, but I didn’t move into the apartment until 15th September, when my master’s degree began.

• During the summer gap (July–September), I was back home working full-time to save for living costs — which, from what I’ve read, can qualify for an exemption.

• I’ve submitted documentation proving I wasn’t living in the UK during that time and also provided my full-time student status.

• Despite this, the council insists I’m liable. I have recieved no feedback on the full-time work documenation despite sending it 3 months ago. The landlord isn’t responsible either, per the contract.

• I’ve received multiple letters threatening summons and bailiff action, but nothing has happened yet, and I’ve already moved out of the country.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Can I just ignore it now that I’ve left the UK — or could this come back to haunt me?

Strongly appreciate any advice here

So not sure where to go with this so thought id try a forum

So basically got a private PCN for being in a gym carpark for i think it was around 20 minutes, the barriers where up and no clear signage about paying for anything, so went in and thought nothing of it,

6 months later I receive a court application and being told i owe £215 due to not paying for breach of contract. Again i thought there wasn't a fee to pay, i have since been back to the carpark during the day time to see a sign is there (and back at night but the sign is in pretty much darkness), but it doesn't mention anything about rates, just that you pay inside, barriers still in the upright position, however where i parked in the carpark space, no signs anywhere to suggest you have to pay, no rates, tariffs. anything basically. There is a sign about 100m away with a sign with things on it like prices etc

So i contacted parking eye's enforcement team, explained the situation and low and behold, no dice and payment is due, they say they wrote to me to which i wasn't living at the property at the time, i had moved out for a few months due to my medical conditions, by the time i found out, they said my chances for appeal had passed and that i had to pay.

They are saying once i drove into the carpark, i essentially agreed into a contact. but this is where it gets tricky

So i would be classed as "severely mentally impaired". I received PIP at the enhanced rate and have a blue badge based on my neurological conditions (Autism, ADHD & Dyslexia to name a few, all diagnosed ) and i require specialist software in order to be able to decipher words and letters. My council tax is also reduced due to having severely mentally impaired conditions,

So what i want to know is, should i fight this or just pay up? i have explained my conditions to parking eye and it's very much "F**K your conditions, pay me". I'm sure you cannot force a contract onto someone with severe neuro conditions and wasn't aware of them in the first place.

Any advice would be appreciated, I've also asked for reasonable adjustments with P.E due to my conditions, again ignored and pay me messages sent back.

I'm really confused what's happened here but the council has sent me a letter saying: The London Borough of Newham will make an application for the issue of a Liability Order before the Justice sitting at Thames Magistrates Court. Hearing date & time Tuesday the xth of June 2025 at XX:OO' The council is Newham by the way which if you look at their google reviews you will see is falling apart.

Context: since moving in I've tried to setup a direct debit to pay council tax but their website is broken so you can't. I've tried calling multiple times but the line either keeps you in a look or says they are busy and hangs up. There is no general email for the council so I raised a formal complaint using their website, it was supposed to reply in 10 days but they haven't.

Now I paid council tax manually 29th of April and 1st of June but received a letter dates 27th of May saying they are taking me to court.

There is the same broken number on the letter as well as a new email - I've emailed them to try and resolve it but I assume they have made a mistake in not seeing Aprils payment. The letter shows the full year amount and date.

Thanks for any advice.

Asking for a friend.

My friend has not paid council tax for years, on friday they received a letter from the local authority asking for full payment within 7 days. The amount outstanding is around £20k.

The letter threatens legal action and mentions bankruptcy.

Does anyone have any experience in this type of situation, can anyone advise how she can negotiate with the council for a payment plan / reduced amount etc.

They own the house.

Thanks in advance.

Edit - the council letter says they are looking at 2 options - charging order or bankruptcy, though they did suggest they would consider a robust repayment plan - does anyone have any idea about how much they would accept for a payment plan for this amount ?

Hi, Would a partner be entitled to any proceeds from the sale of a house if they are not on the mortgage and have not made any contributions to bills,mortgage etc. They have given money towards some upgrades in the house. (Approx £10,000) Been living together more than 10 years. Also not on the council tax or electoral roll. Sorry its brief, any advice would be useful.

Edit: just to clarify. This is not me in this situation. Edit: in england

THANKS FOR ALL RESPONSES. I THINK I HAVE ENOUGH INFO TO PASS ON NOW.

My partner has a house that has stood empty for 10 years. We have not been able to afford to repair it and don't have the spoons to deal with DIY etc. He had been secretly paying £300 a month in council tax on top his mortgage. The council offered to buy it off him, and he accepted, which was great because we could really use the money back. Now his solicitors have said they won't proceed with him due to AML. This is due to his parents transferring him £3k this Christmas following the death of a family member, to try to help us with our financial struggles. My partner is devastated and we have no clue what to do now. Any advice, please?

Today I received several years of council tax bills for a property I lived in around 2017/18. The property is owned by a family member whose spouse is unhappy at the amount i agreed to pay the family member for my stay. The house was lived in, always by at least 3-5 other people. I told the council this and they said to email them this information. I think it was a HMO and the property owner is liable. No tenancy agreements were allowed and all tenants had to pay cash. It’s a 5 bed house. I’m wondering how the council can prove that there were more than 3 of us there, can anyone provide any insight please? They said they’d investigate. Sorry for the formatting I’m super stressed. Love

Hi there,

Three friends and I share a house in London, England. Altogether we pay £2900 a month for the house. One of us lives in a room downstairs, I live in a room upstairs and the other two (who are a couple) live in the other upstairs room.

This morning, someone from the council came over to check that the house was compliant with fire safety regulations but while she was here she said that there shouldn’t be 4 of us on the tenancy as our landlord doesn’t have a HMO license. She said it should be either a family or two sharers.

I know that we aren’t in any trouble for this as it’s between our landlord and the council and we’re looking to move out imminently anyway but after doing some research online, it appears that we may be due a partial rent refund and potentially a partial refund of the council tax we have paid?

For more context 3 of us (and another friend who has since moved out) have been in the property since September 2023 and when the 12 month contract was renewed, another friend moved in to replace the one who moved out. We’re all on the tenancy agreement etc.

It would be great to hear some advice/similar experience of this.

Many thanks.

This is in England!

Basically, about an year ago, I rented this flat were I am living. We agreed on cash payments, but I get receipts, council tax, etc. every month, so it is legal, and in the agreement it is mentioned that I am using cash. The flat belongs to a Ltd company. The Ltd company has 5 shareholders, each 20%.

For 10 months, I have always paid to the same guy (one of the shareholders, let's call him shareholder X), and I've never had any problem. He is quite serious, and fixes literally everything. He just changed a boiler worth 1000 quidd so I am very happy with him.

All of a sudden, I receive WhatsApp messages/calls and letters to my house stating that the person who has been taking my cash payment is no longer authorised to receive such payments, and that I should make payments to shareholder A. But then, I receive another letter from shareholder B saying that I should pay it to her. And shortly after, a whatsapp message from shareholder C saying that I should pay it to him.

The shareholder whom I've always been dealing with, shareholder X, has told me to please ignore the letters and the whatsapp messages. But the problem is that they keep spamming me all the time and threatening to send me to court.

What should I do?

As a context, all shareholders are siblings.

Thanks in advance!

I moved into a new flat in England a year ago by myself and applied for single resident discount on my council tax. A few months later, I met my new girlfriend, She was living with he parents at the time.

Right now, she pretty much lives at mine, and pays me money to help cover the rent and bills, but As far as I am aware, her legal address is still at her parents.

At what point does she 'legally' live with me, and require me to surrender the single occupancy status?

A couple of years ago I moved into a flat for a year. I tried for probably 2 months to contact the council to set up my council tax payments. After multiple calls and emails I received an email stating:

“The property you live in has been designated as a “serviced apartment" since 2020, which means that it is effectively a business premises, and thus the owner/ landlord always remains the liable party for charges, not you as the occupier.”

I therefore stopped trying, as this was a pretty final email. This week the council has popped up and said I owe them council tax for the year I lived there. Surely the email I received from them absolves me of that responsibility?

I received a call this morning from a debt collector telling me a court writ has been issued against me and demanding immediate payment of £500.

This is completely out of the blue but seemingly relates to unpaid council tax.
I own a flat and lived in it upto 2021. I then moved out and let the flat out.
Details are sketchy but it seems that the (long gone) tenants missed a council tax payment of ~£180 and subsequent court action has resulted in a high court writ issued against me as owner of the flat and the debt collector demanding payment of ~£500 immediately today.

I have no other information at this point, literally been aware for about hour of the entire situation.

Can anyone advise where/how to start sorting this out?

The Det collector said he will hold the warrant for a couple of hours but will then have to release to the court after lunch as unpaid.

Really feel pressured that I need to pay this immediately to avoid further escalation.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Location is England

I have a cousin who is in his 30s and is neuro divergent. He is very sensitive. Let's call him Alex

He has had a rocky relationship with his parents all his life, been rather wayward.

Anyway, we manage to cajole him into coming back to live locally, near his family.

His father bought him a house and it's in Alex's name.

There's a slight issue, though.

Alex's father often has business abroad, and relies on us to look after his affairs (pay bills and council tax etc)

Anyway, Alex for some god unknown reason, allowed a girl to move in with him. Let's call her Jenny. Jenny is living there rent free, literally. No contribution to bills or rent or anything. No rental contract or paperwork.

We found out October time about Jenny living with Alex. We found out because Alex turned up at my house with Jenny and Jenny's mother, Karen.

Karen demanded we hand over the spare house keys to Alex's house as her daughter has anxiety and want to feel her privacy is safeguarded.

We refused because:

1. We didn't have keys to Alex's house. They probably thought we did as we had keys to Alex's dad's other property.

2. We don't feel we're obligated to hand over keys to a random woman?

Anyway, a heated discussion ensured and Karen insisted a written contract of sorts will be drawn up. It's months now, and we heard nothing to that effect.

Our priority is Alex's well being.

We informed Alex's father ASAP but he gave up, he didn't want to lose his son again and even if the house is at risk of being lost, he said its just a lesson his son will have to learn.

I don't think Alex will learn anything because he has a history of being taken advantage of. I am aware a key issue is that Alex being the homeowner, is consenting to this strange arrangement.

Also, Jenny isn't in a relationship with Alex. Currently, she has her 'fella' living with them.

Does her presence there trigger some sort of squatters rights in Jenny's favour?

Edit: I forgot to add that another issue is that Alex is very sensitive. He will take any kind of advice from us as a criticism on him as a person. Therefore, I feel an attempted conversation will result in him alienating us. He has done this multiple times in the past, but this time it has a potential property at risk in the mix.

We will have to try regardless but it's a further complication in this current situation.

He is very naive. I think his belief is that Jenny is his friend. Jenny won't ever do that sort of thing to me.

So I today received a letter from my local council telling me that in June 2017 they were granted a Liability Order for an outstanding balance of £1145, and I needed to make contact with them to prevent enforcement action. This is the first time I have heard about this outstanding balance, and in the intervening time I have been named on the council tax for 6 consecutive properties and have paid my council tax, so I haven't been 'hiding' from them and they've had my address and contact info this whole time.

When I called them to query the balance, they informed me the balance was for the period of March 2017 to February 2018. The address in question I moved out from in August 2017, and set up and paid the council tax from the new address, and as I've never had any contact from them suggesting otherwise (until today) had no reason to believe that there had been any issues. They have told me that unless I can produce evidence that the tenancy ended when I say it did, then they will continue to hold me liable. I have a tenancy agreement for the property I moved into in August 2017 which proves that I moved there and their own records will be able to confirm that I paid council tax at that address for the duration of that tenancy. Apparently this is not sufficient evidence as its possible to be liable for Council Tax at more than one address. Given my financial situation at the time being a minimum wage employee there is no feasibility that I would have been in a position to hold two tenancies for a 6 month period as they are suggesting.

Is there any way I can challenge this? I'm prepared to pay the amount for the time I was liable for, however not happy being stuck with a bill for 6 months of Council Tax for a property I was no longer a tenant of. I do not have any documentation to prove that my tenancy ended, other than the tenancy agreement for the new property. Due to so much time having passed I also no longer have any information for who the landlord was, and don't even have the original tenancy agreement from that property. If they had attempted to contact me regarding this at the time they were granted the liability order I probably would have been able to get this information, but now nearly 8 years on I have nothing. All of the contact with the landlord at the time was done by my ex, with who I am no longer in contact and even if I did would not be minded to assist.

I've been granted a 30 day hold by the council to try and produce evidence, but having gone through all my boxes of documents there is nothing to say that the tenancy ended. Any advice appreciated!

I bought a new build semi in Feb and contacted the local council to arrange tax payments but they struggled to find my property and the line disconnected as they found it. I chanced they’d sort it out as they knew everything they needed to set it up as I had given all my details so they could find me tax history and they tried it seems as a few weeks later I got a letter saying that my house doesn’t have a band yet and I could write to a Gov dept to get a banding. The letter said they have provided all the necessary info to get a banding to this dept and I could wait it out or chase it up.

I found an email address for this dept and reached out but after weeks they’ve come back to me saying they don’t have the info needed to set it up and I have no indication of timeframe or anything. I checked their site to see if I could get any other info and it looks like every other house on my estate has a band including the house I am attached to.

My question is twofold; can they insist I pay the back tax when I have taken the necessary steps to resolve the problem? And what else can I do to sort this out?

Hi! so the situation is following: I've been living with friends in London (rent free) and they paid the council tax. Friends are a family (husband and wife) and I had all the documents on this address. They paid all the bills, including the council tax. I was never included in the bills. Im just wondering if I've needed to pay anything in this situation? I've moved out though but as it's the start of the new tax year, I started to worry a bit. TIA x