Council Tax on touring caravan left at site

[visionary]

Hi,
I live in the Midlands with my wife and pay council tax there. During the week I work down south and stay in my touring caravan for four nights returning to home at the weekend. Recently the site where my caravan stays all week including weekends has been visited by the council and as a consequence I have now been given a council letter stating that I am due to pay council tax for my caravan. I was under the impression that council tax is due if it is your sole or main residence which my caravan is not. Am I correct in thinking this and should I have to pay council tax at both places? If not is there any legislation to back my position that I can quote to the council?

Thanks,

[enaid]

Re: Coiuncil Tax on touring caravan left at site

All I can say is councils are going OTT on second homes etc and are really digging their teeth in.
I have a static on a holiday site where as it's a 50 week site many people do live on there and the rules are if they have an address (as I do) no CT is due as I pay on my main residence.
IMHO if you prove your main residence and that you pay CT there then you should be exempt have a read HERE

[lgfa92]

Re: Coiuncil Tax on touring caravan left at site

A caravan and pitch is in principal no different from a house when it comes to looking at council tax - i.e. you can be liable on more than one location for a council tax charge - however it should not be banded for council tax purposes if it is not a 'sole or main residence'.

You need to contact the local council and show them that you are living elsewhere as your main home.

[visionary]

Re: Council Tax on touring caravan left at site

Is there anywhere in the Local Government Finance Act 1992 where it states that council tax should only be applied to your sole or main residence? I have had a look but cannot find it.

[lgfa92]

Re: Council Tax on touring caravan left at site

Is there anywhere in the Local Government Finance Act 1992 where it states that council tax should only be applied to your sole or main residence? I have had a look but cannot find it.

There isn't as there's nothing to stop a person being liable for a council tax charge on more than one property for council tax purposes. Caravans are a special case which are addressed at a lower level than the LGFA92.

The LGFA92 applies only to property which are shown in a valuation list. A caravan, for council tax purposes, is only added to a valuation list as domestic property where it is the 'sole or main residence' of an occupier. It can remain in the list between occupation providing that the property is likely to be a persons 'sole or main residence' when it is next occupied - this is an administrative convenience so it doesn't have to be added and removed each time occupation changes.

Where the caravan remains in the valuation list between occupations a Class R council tax exemption would apply to reflect the fact that a council tax charge is not due when it's not occupied as a 'sole or main residence'.

[visionary]

Hi, Just an update on this situation.
I contacted the council regarding this and they said that it was down to the valuation office. They also said that there could not be a single persons reduction in the council tax demand for my caravan as "it is not your sole or main residence". So I contacted the valuation office and filled in a form for the deletion of my caravan from the system and received a reply that someone would look into it and it could take up to four months for an answer. I have just had a telephone conversation with the valuation office and they are saying that any habitable item is subject to council tax irrespective of whether it is your sole or main residence or not.

[enaid]

Jeez it's mind boggling to be hnest anyway have found this info from Shelter https://england.shelter.org.uk/housi...le_home_owners

Seems the difference between unprotected and protected sites as they call it I would have said Residential or Holiday, my van is on a Holiday site open 50 weeks many live on there and do pay CT as they have no other address. It will say in their contract they are not allowed to live there but the 2 weeks break where the must vacate the site all together seems to cover that. We pay CT at our home address and have never been approached for CT at the van

[lgfa92]

Hi, Just an update on this situation.
I contacted the council regarding this and they said that it was down to the valuation office. They also said that there could not be a single persons reduction in the council tax demand for my caravan as "it is not your sole or main residence". So I contacted the valuation office and filled in a form for the deletion of my caravan from the system and received a reply that someone would look into it and it could take up to four months for an answer. I have just had a telephone conversation with the valuation office and they are saying that any habitable item is subject to council tax irrespective of whether it is your sole or main residence or not.

The council are right in that the VOA make the banding decision. What they said is a generalisation regarding banding of dwellings, it would almost certainly apply for a house but not always in respect of a pitch (see point 3.2 & 3.3 in the link below regarding when a caravan pitch becomes domestic property). The VOA should look at whether the caravan is being used as a 'sole or main residence' (or has been used as such and is expected to be again - see point 3.3 in the link) when determining if the pitch should be banded but at the moment it's in their hands until they make a determination and the council are free to pursue any council tax charge in the meantime.

A single person discount can be given on a caravan on a banded pitch where the caravan is the sole or main residence of an individual but the council's hands are tied in that legislation is quite specific in the granting of the 25% discount. They could of course grant a section 13A(1)(c) discretionary reduction on the council tax charge.

[visionary]

Thanks for the link to the Valuation Office own manual. This would suggest that council tax should not be due in these circumstances and yet the VO stated on the phone this morning that it should. Would it be worth pointing out to them their own manual suggests otherwise or just wait for their decision?

[lgfa92]

Thanks for the link to the Valuation Office own manual. This would suggest that council tax should not be due in these circumstances and yet the VO stated on the phone this morning that it should. Would it be worth pointing out to them their own manual suggests otherwise or just wait for their decision?

I agree with you - I don't think the caravan pitch should be banded under these circumstances. The VOA person you spoke to seems to given you the 'general' position which applies to most property rather than the specific cases which apply to caravans.

Unfortunately you're stuck between a rock and a hard-place as the current situation (i.e. it's banded and council tax is due) applies until a listings officer determines it should not be banded and updates the valuation list to the correct details. There are so few listings officers these days that any decision will usually take a while regardless of how much you try and push them to hurry up. I would wait and see the decision before challenging it further.

I would add that valuation decisions can be a pain, for work purposes I usually stay clear of valuation issues and deal only with council tax disputes as the law really favours the listings officers. This sort of case is an odd cross-over one however as it falls under the valuation and banding side but also involves the council tax side of 'sole or main residence'.