You live in a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO)

Occupants in a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) are not responsible for council tax; instead, this obligation falls upon the landlord or the freeholder.

An HMO refers to a property where individuals from different households reside together, each with their own rooms, while sharing communal areas like the kitchen and living room. These arrangements are commonly found in student accommodations and shared house or flat rentals.

The definitive guidelines outlining liability for council tax, in a step-by-step manner, are outlined in section 6 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

To operate an HMO, landlords must hold a property license, with regulations detailed in the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006.

If you're a resident in a shared house and faced with bailiff harassment for council tax, direct them to the landlord or managing letting agency.

If the bailiff persists or threatens enforcement action against an occupant, you can issue notice of an injunction, as their actions would contravene the lawful execution of duty. Such actions would breach Paragraphs 7.1 and 10 of Schedule 12 to the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

In cases where a council has obtained liability against an HMO occupant, the occupant can apply to nullify the liability order under section 12A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.


Template: Inform the council to request the annulment of the liability order as the legislation specifies that individuals residing in an HMO are not accountable for council tax.

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The Law:

Section 6 of Local Government Finance Act 1992 states:

Persons liable to pay council tax.

(1)The person who is liable to pay council tax in respect of any chargeable dwelling and any day is the person who falls within the first paragraph of subsection (2) below to apply, taking paragraph (a) of that subsection first, paragraph (b) next, and so on.

(2)A person falls within this subsection in relation to any chargeable dwelling and any day if, on that day—

(a)he is a resident of the dwelling and has a freehold interest in the whole or any part of it;

(b)he is such a resident and has a leasehold interest in the whole or any part of the dwelling which is not inferior to another such interest held by another such resident;

(c)he is both such a resident and a statutory secure or introductory tenant of the whole or any part of the dwelling;

(d)he is such a resident and has a contractual licence to occupy the whole or any part of the dwelling;

(e)he is such a resident; or

(f)he is the owner of the dwelling.

(3)Where, in relation to any chargeable dwelling and any day, two or more persons fall within the first paragraph of subsection (2) above to apply, they shall each be jointly and severally liable to pay the council tax in respect of the dwelling and that day.

(4)Subsection (3) above shall not apply as respects any day on which one or more of the persons there mentioned fall to be disregarded for the purposes of discount by virtue of paragraph 2 (severely mentally impaired) or 4 (students etc.) of Schedule 1 to this Act and one or more of them do not; and liability to pay the council tax in respect of the dwelling and that day shall be determined as follows—

(a)if only one of those persons does not fall to be so disregarded, he shall be solely liable;

(b)if two or more of those persons do not fall to be so disregarded, they shall each be jointly and severally liable.

(5)In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—

"owner", in relation to any dwelling, means the person as regards whom the following conditions are fulfilled—

(a)he has a material interest in the whole or any part of the dwelling; and

(b)at least part of the dwelling or, as the case may be, of the part concerned is not subject to a material interest inferior to his interest;

"resident", in relation to any dwelling, means an individual who has attained the age of 18 years and has his sole or main residence in the dwelling.

(6)In this section—

"introductory tenant" means a tenant under an introductory tenancy within the meaning of Chapter I of Part V of the Housing Act 1996;

"material interest" means a freehold interest or a leasehold interest which was granted for a term of six months or more;

"secure tenant" means a tenant under a secure tenancy within the meaning of Part IV of the M1Housing Act 1985;

"statutory tenant" means a statutory tenant within the meaning of the Rent Act 1977 or the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976.


Section 12A of Schedule 4 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 states:

Quashing of liability orders

12ARegulations under paragraph 1(1) above may provide—

(a)that, where on an application by the authority concerned a magistrates' court is satisfied that a liability order should not have been made, it shall quash the order;

(b)that, where on an application to a magistrates' court for the quashing of a liability order, the court is satisfied that, had the original application been for a liability order in respect of a lesser sum payable, such an order could properly have been made, it shall substitute a liability order in respect of the aggregate of—

(i)that lesser sum, and

(ii)any sum included in the quashed order in respect of the costs incurred in obtaining it.