r/Glasgow Tools

Title	Council Tax Questions
Author	LongjumpingOwl3
Body	Hey guys! I'm a student and I moved into a shared flat (private landlords/non-HMO/joint-tenancy/both students) at the end of summer. It's a two bed so its just me and one other girl. The other girl has lived here since April and before I had moved in it was her and a couple living here. When I moved in, I notified the council because I was under the impression that its usually the tenant's responsibility to register with the council not the landlords. When I did this, we got sent a council tax bill stating what we owe which is what I was expecting since over summer I was between courses at two different unis and thus not technically a student for council tax purposes. However, my flatmate got annoyed that we had been billed. It turns out that she was under the impression (and still evidently believes) that since the flat had always been occupied by students that there was no need for her to submit her own student exemption form. Not only this, but she never registered with the council that she was living at the property so as far as I'm aware the council did not know she lived here until I notified them when I sent in our student exemption. When we filled out the form she had to put in her move in date so the council is definitely now aware that she's been here since April. When we talked about it, she's adamant that there was no need to send in our exemption since the flat had always been occupied by students. I tried to tell her to go look at the council website where it's very very clear that that's not the case. So now I have a few questions about the situation: 1) Does each tenant have their own Council tax account online? I'm able to access one with my name on it and it gives the correct date for when I've been liable for council tax. Would my flatmate also have her own account or is it just one per flat? I'm just worried since if she had her own account the dates of liability would be different and the council would pursue her for council tax during that period even if she was a student. 2) Is there such a thing as student license that landlords can get for a flat to designate it as a student flat? My flatmate said that this was why we didn't have to send in our exemption but there's literally nothing in the lease about it or anything I could find online that this is even a real thing. I'm really hoping that this is just my flatmate being really naive about council tax and that there's nothing sketchy going on. Any advice or reassurances would be appreciated!
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/ptuzgc/council_tax_questions/
Created	Thu 23rd Sep 2021 2:13pm
Status	normal (Removed by [])

Hey guys!

I'm a student and I moved into a shared flat (private landlords/non-HMO/joint-tenancy/both students) at the end of summer. It's a two bed so its just me and one other girl. The other girl has lived here since April and before I had moved in it was her and a couple living here.

When I moved in, I notified the council because I was under the impression that its usually the tenant's responsibility to register with the council not the landlords. When I did this, we got sent a council tax bill stating what we owe which is what I was expecting since over summer I was between courses at two different unis and thus not technically a student for council tax purposes. However, my flatmate got annoyed that we had been billed. It turns out that she was under the impression (and still evidently believes) that since the flat had always been occupied by students that there was no need for her to submit her own student exemption form. Not only this, but she never registered with the council that she was living at the property so as far as I'm aware the council did not know she lived here until I notified them when I sent in our student exemption. When we filled out the form she had to put in her move in date so the council is definitely now aware that she's been here since April.

When we talked about it, she's adamant that there was no need to send in our exemption since the flat had always been occupied by students. I tried to tell her to go look at the council website where it's very very clear that that's not the case. So now I have a few questions about the situation:

1) Does each tenant have their own Council tax account online? I'm able to access one with my name on it and it gives the correct date for when I've been liable for council tax. Would my flatmate also have her own account or is it just one per flat? I'm just worried since if she had her own account the dates of liability would be different and the council would pursue her for council tax during that period even if she was a student.

2) Is there such a thing as student license that landlords can get for a flat to designate it as a student flat? My flatmate said that this was why we didn't have to send in our exemption but there's literally nothing in the lease about it or anything I could find online that this is even a real thing.

I'm really hoping that this is just my flatmate being really naive about council tax and that there's nothing sketchy going on. Any advice or reassurances would be appreciated!