There is one council tax bill for each dwelling, whether it is a house, bungalow, flat, maisonette etc., and whether it is owned or rented. If only one person lives in a dwelling they will be the liable person. Where two or more people live in a dwelling a hierarchy of liability is used to work out who is liable. The person highest on the list will be responsible for paying the council tax bill as follows:
- a resident owner-occupier who owns either the leasehold or freehold of all or part of the property
- a resident statutory or secure tenant
- a resident licensee
- a resident
- an owner where no one is resident.
A resident is anyone aged 18 years or over who lives in the dwelling as their only or main home. Whether a property is treated as your main home depends on a number of factors, such as how much time you spend there and whether it is your family home. You cannot have more than one main home for council tax purposes.
Two or more people can be jointly liable for council tax in respect of the same dwelling, and they are each jointly and severally liable to pay the full council tax charge. This situation will apply to:
- persons with the same legal interest in the dwelling (e.g. they are joint tenants or joint owners)
- residents who are married, live together as husband and wife or who are Civil Partners.
In some cases the owner, not the residents, is liable to pay the council tax for the following types of property:
- residential care homes, nursing homes or hostels
- houses of multiple occupation
- properties inhabited by religious communities
- properties occupied by resident staff
- properties used by ministers of religion
- dwellings occupied solely by asylum seekers.