Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council wrongly advised him about paying council tax for his holiday let. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council wrongly advised he should pay council tax for a holiday let he bought in 2019. As a result he did not register the property for business rates and lost out on the opportunity to apply for a Government grant for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and invited his comments.

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What I found

4. Mr X purchased a flat to use as a holiday let in 2019. He spoke to the Council about it twice and says he told the adviser he spoke to that the property would be available to let all year round.
5. The Council’s notes focus on whether the flat would be furnished or unfurnished; Mr X says he enquired about whether he had to pay council tax for it and says the Council told him he did. He has recently found out this was incorrect as properties let for more than 140 days per year are treated as businesses. The owner should therefore ask the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to add the property to the rating list to create a liability for business rates, rather than council tax. They may then apply for certain reliefs which reduce the amount owed.
6. Depending on the reliefs granted, businesses may also have been eligible for a grant from the Government to deal with the impact of COVID-19. Businesses in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rates Relief (RRR) as of 11 March 2020 were eligible for a payment of £10,000.
7. Because Mr X did not register his holiday let with the VOA and was not registered for business rates or in receipt of SBRR or RRR, he was not eligible for a grant from the Government. Mr X believes the Council has therefore cost him the opportunity to apply for the £10,000 grant.
8. While Mr X is clear his contact with the Council sought to clarify if he should pay council tax for his holiday let, there is no contemporaneous evidence available to support this. The Council’s records do not indicate Mr X advised it he intended to use the property as a holiday let and do not show it told him to pay council tax for it. Without evidence to show this we cannot show, on balance, that the Council misadvised Mr X or that he has wrongly missed out on the Government grant as a result.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman