The Landlady gets her head round a new policy

I am sick of people like me saying they’ve ‘got no money’. I myself am as guilty as everyone else and deep down know that if you’re privileged enough to own a house and be able to scrape the mortgage together every month, then you haven’t ‘got no money’ and should just grow up and stop whingeing.

On the subject of money, I think I have accidentally stumbled across a Tory Party policy that does not favour the wealthy. You may think I’m joking, but current wrangles with the Council Tax people in Hastings have made me aware of this unlikely development.

“It is difficult to use a refuse collection service, roads and other services when you don’t actually exist”

Unbeknown to me, as long ago as last April, Hastings changed their Council Tax policy. In the past, if a property is sitting empty – between lets for example – the property owner has not been liable for Council Tax. And why should they be? It is difficult to use a refuse collection service, roads and other services when you don’t actually exist…

The flat that Katy and I have owned for the past 12 years in Hastings was up for sale for six months last year. It was empty and unfurnished, not to mention unloved and slightly worse for wear. The frustrating thing is that part of the reason it didn’t sell was because the rubbish collection in the area – paid for by council tax – is pretty shoddy and communal bins are often left overflowing, not giving a great deal of kerb appeal.

In November, we received a Council Tax bill for £510. I sent the council a letter stating that the flat had been unoccupied and unfurnished since June. They swiftly wrote back threatening us with County Court proceedings, if we didn’t pay what was owed.

I telephoned the council on a rainy Monday morning to be told that from April 2013, property owners were being charged Council Tax on empty properties, albeit with one month exemption, meaning that Katy and I had been charged for five months of not using the services provided. I tried – with an unusual degree of success – not to be angry on the phone, when I asked how we could be charged for stuff we hadn’t used, like rubbish collection. The operative pointed out that Council Tax covered other things like local highways. I asked why I should be charged for local Hastings highways, when I live in Brighton and Katy lives in London and we both pay our own local taxes. Realising that an argumentative approach would get me nowhere I asked what had precipitated this new policy. The lady told me that government cuts had caused the council to look for money elsewhere, which had led them to charge property owners – read ‘rich b******s’ – Council Tax on empty properties.

I have to say that, even though we are being charged for something we’re not using, I have to agree with the policy, as it really only affects those who can afford to have a property sitting empty, like us ‘rich b******s’. I must be going soft in my old age…