There is only one council tax bill for each property. Usually, the person who lives in a property will have to pay the bill. The person who has to pay is usually:
- the person who owns and lives in the property
- a tenant (including council tenants)
- a person who is not the owner or tenant but lives in the property
- the owner - freeholder, leaseholder or a tenant with a tenancy of six months or more
There are times when the owner will have to pay instead of the resident:
- occupied by asylum seekers receiving support from the Home Office
- a residential home for the elderly or ill people
- a nursing home
- a hostel
- the home of a religious community
- a home in which domestic staff live and which is occasionally used by the employer
- the home of a minister of religion who lives and works there
- house in multiple occupation
For council tax purposes, a house in multiple occupation (HMO) is a property which is divided into bedsitting rooms. This differs from the definition for HMO licensing purposes.
From 1 December 2023:
- all HMOs will be valued as a single property (aggregated) for council tax and this will apply to both licensed and unlicensed HMOs
- rooms in HMOs will no longer have their own band
Sometimes, a building with separate bedsits is not counted as one home (a single dwelling). The Valuation Office Agency might decide that each room is its own home for council tax. This means each room gets its own council tax band.
For council tax, the building is not treated as a shared house (HMO). The people living in the rooms must pay the council tax, not the building owner.
More information on the banding of houses in multiple occupation
If you are a landlord or tenant of an HMO property which is currently not aggregated
