In the UK over the past year there have been some changes regarding Council Tax banding for HMO’s. Usually, a landlord is liable for paying the council tax on the dwelling, but a trend has appeared for the Valuation Office Agency to re-band the HMO’s bedrooms as individual dwellings.

This change means that each room in a HMO has a council tax bill attached to it. This of course ups the costs of running the property by a large margin. Many Landlords have has to pass this cost onto their tenants meaning their rooms are much more expensive than others in the area.

What should I do if my HMO gets re-banded?

You can challenge the re-banding by submitting an appeal to the VOA. They will provide you with appeal forms that you will need to fill out for each room. You will also need to get written permission from each tenant in the property to act on their behalf with the VOA.

You have 3 months to do this in.

The VOA will decide upon your properties council tax band based on these appeals and the information you give.

Is this going to be a permanent issue?

There are a lot of property professionals challenging this decision, with some managing to speak to MP’s and other government officials.  

The most recent update is a positive one. MP, Caroline Dinenage has altered a bill (Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill) to stop these revaluations happening.

Source: https://www.property118.com/rip-off-council-tax-bills-for-hmo-tenants-set-to-end/