Summary: Mr X moved into a new build property in August 2017. He complains there was an unreasonable delay in the Council issuing him with council tax bills for 2017/18 and 2018/19. There was fault that warrants a remedy.

The complaint

1. Mr X moved into a new build property in August 2017. He complains there was an unreasonable delay in the Council issuing him with council tax bills for 2017/18 and 2018/19. Mr X says the bills were only sent to him in August 2019 and only after he chased the Council. He complains the delay unreasonably left him with a large council tax bill to pay on top of current council tax payments.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. We spoke to Mr X and considered the information he provided. We asked the Council for information and considered the Council’s response to the complaint.
5. We undertook further enquiries about the Council’s processes for visiting new build properties and issuing completion certificates in response to a review of our original decision on Mr X’s complaint.
6. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council Policy – Visits to New Build Developments and Council Tax Completion Certificates

7. The Council says its valuations team receive information from the planning department about new developments. Based on that information they arrange site visits to monitor the progress of the builds and to decide when they are likely to be completed. Dependent on progress of the build, the valuations team instruct follow up visits.
8. Schedule 4A of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 says a council shall serve a completion notice if it believes completion of a new development can be expected within 3 months. A council may also serve a notice if it comes to its attention a building has been completed.

What happened

9. Mr X complains of a long delay in issuing a council tax bill for a property he moved into in August 2017. It was part of a relatively small development of new‑build houses.
10. Planning permission for the development was approved in late 2015. On 6 May 2016 the Council’s valuation team carried out a site visit to check on the progress of the development. The Council’s records noted the development was work in progress, builders were on site but only the footings had been started. They noted that a re-visit would be required.
11. As the property was not completed, Mr X temporarily moved into a property his parents owned. He advised the Council he had vacated his old address and that he was purchasing a new house. He provided the temporary address at the end of February 2017 which the Council noted.
12. The Council told us it planned to re-visit the new estate on 3 July 2017. However, it cancelled the visit because it had been notified of the occupancy of six of the ten plots.
13. Mr X says he contacted the Council on the day he moved into his new house on 1 August 2017. The Council told him his property had not yet been valued by the Valuation Office Agency, but the Council’s Valuation Team would chase them to organise this.
14. Mr X says he chased the Council when he received no bill in March 2018. He chased the Council again in September 2018 and March 2019. On each occasion he contacted the Council by telephone. Mr X was concerned about the delay and being presented with a large bill. He says the Council told him not to worry as this would be taken into account when payments were calculated and a payment plan could be agreed.
15. The Council provided a note of a telephone call from Mr X on 23 April 2019. It noted Mr X had moved to his new house. It stated “this address is not showing on [the council systems]. Purchased this property in July 2017 can this please be put onto the system and chased up with the valuations office etc. Thanks”
16. The Council told us it made a request to the VOA for a banding on 1 May 2019. The VOA responded on 12 May and the Council issued Mr X’s council tax bill on 22 May.
17. The bill sent to Mr X was for £9,000 for backdated council tax for his new house from 2017 to date. The Council sent the bill to the temporary address Mr X stayed with his parents, rather than his new house.

Mr X’s complaint

18. When Mr X complained, a revenues officer responded. He stated he was extremely sorry it had taken so long to issue Mr X’s council tax bill. However, the Council could not do so until the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) added the property to the Valuation List and confirmed its band.
19. The officer stated on occasions the Council could set up an unbanded account in advance of the formal notice which Mr X could have made payments into. Unfortunately, that was not possible in his case. The officer stated the Council could, perhaps have made some alternative arrangement to prevent him facing such a large lump sum of arrears once the property was eventually created/banded. He stated “I believe we should have explained the situation to you in more depth at the time you vacated [Mr X’s original property], and perhaps asked you to continue making payments into that Council Tax account (even though you had left), which could later have been transferred to your new account at the appropriate time, and again, I offer our apologies that this was not done.”
20. The officer suggested the best way forward was to agree a suitable repayment plan. He suggested Mr X paid the current 2019/20 charges as normal over the remaining eight months. This would be approximately £400 per month. He proposed spreading the accumulated arrears over 18 months. This would be an additional £281 per month.
21. Mr X felt the Council should discount his council tax because of the long delay in issuing a bill. In a further response the Council stated it had no record of the calls Mr X mentioned between 2017 and 2018 and it had no record of being told by the developer that the property had been sold. So, the Council’s position was that it acted as soon as it was made aware Mr X moved in. This was in 2019.
22. The Council stated, in 2019, it contacted the VOA asking for the house to be banded and added to the Valuation List. Its request was sent to the VOA on 1 May 2019. The VOA responded on 12 May and the Council issued Mr X’s council tax bill on 22 May.
23. The Council stated it could not reduce Mr X’s council tax bill.

Was there fault by the Council

24. The crux of the complaint is whether the Council was first aware that Mr X’s property needed a council tax bill in April 2019 or whether it was reasonable to expect it to have acted sooner.
25. Mr X’s position is that he contacted the Council when he first moved into his new property. He says he was advised when he chased the bill that there was a delay at the VOA. Yet, it took almost two years to issue the bill.
26. Mr X did not contact the Council in writing or by email, so there is no written confirmation of his contacts. The Council has no record of receiving calls from Mr X. Mr X has provided evidence that he made calls to the Council, but I cannot be sure what the purpose of the calls was. The first contact the Council noted on its records after February 2017 was April 2019. When the Council noted contact in April 2019, there was no significant delay acting at that point.
27. However, in addition to calls Mr X made, I have also considered if the Council should have been aware of the completion of his property through its policy of carrying out inspection visits. The Council makes visits based on information from its planning team. The purpose of these visits is to check on progress of new build developments to establish when council tax liability should begin. Information about the proposed completion date is then forwarded to the Valuation Office Agency to allow them to band the property and include it on the rating list.
28. When the Council visited the relevant site in 2016, building work was at an early stage. It decided another visit was required. The Council did not carry out this visit because it started to receive notification from some of the plots on Mr X’s estate that they were occupied. While occupancy of some of the properties had been notified, four remained outstanding. Three were resolved by January 2018, leaving only Mr X’s property. Given the Council’s policy to make visits and check completion, I would have expected the Council to have verified the situation with the one remaining property – Mr X’s. Had it done so in early 2018 when Mr X’s property was the only outstanding property, the delay in achieving a banding and issuing a council tax bill would have largely been avoided.
29. Given the Council has a policy to check on completion of new build properties, I found the delay in issuing a bill until April 2019 was avoidable and fault by the Council.
30. I note the Council has agreed to spread the arrears over an 18-month period. However, as I have found the delay was caused by fault, I have recommended additional remedy. When reaching this decision I have also taken into account that Mr X was aware council tax was due on the property, and could also have put aside funds to assist him to pay the council tax due when the bill arrived.

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Agreed Action

31. The Council agreed to pay Mr X £200 to reflect the time and trouble he was put to in pursuing the complaint. It agreed to reduce the outstanding council tax by £900 and arrange to spread the remaining amount due over a reasonable period based on an assessment of affordability/agreement with Mr X.

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Final decision

32. There was fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman