Selling farm cottages

[jendan]

I believe if it’s uninhabitable you don’t have to pay council tax.
I believe it is classed as uninhabitable if it doesn’t have a working toilet.
I have heard of toilets being removed and windows boarded up to get around paying council tax on empty property

Not in Northumberland.Was told either knock it down,or remove the roof to get rid of Council Tax...........Thats the type of logic employed by Northumberland County Council.

 

[jendan]

You pay more council tax if it empty doesn’t matter if uninhabitable. Borrow the money if you have decent security and a plan the banks will throw the money at you at decent rates.

Assuming you can find a Bank to lend you 200K....................I wish i could.

 

[jendan]

Can you not move into it somehow whilst its being done up and claim single person discount?

It might be a plan if my son was 18..........

 

[livestock 1]

Constantly fettling property up here problem is the rents don’t reflect the money spent but there is the asset value which is important.
Banks say assets mean absolutely nothing to them that is until you don’t have any

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

Rental would be 2000k month. Done up. Their a pair.

Right then, borrow the money to do them up, cash is cheap as chips at the minute, do them up, say taking 9 months to do them both, then rent out on 6 month short hold tenancies, my reckoning by 2025 they will of paid for all necessary work done, and leave 24k a year after that,
Borrow the money for the grain store as well, as the grain should stand it on a long term investment, by 2025you should have income off the cottages to service or help pay off the debt on grain store,
Win win all round,

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

It might be a plan if my son was 18..........

Even better as under 18, you don't pay CT

 

[livestock 1]

Right then, borrow the money to do them up, cash is cheap as chips at the minute, do them up, say taking 9 months to do them both, then rent out on 6 month short hold tenancies, my reckoning by 2025 they will of paid for all necessary work done, and leave 24k a year after that,
Borrow the money for the grain store as well, as the grain should stand it on a long term investment, by 2025you should have income off the cottages to service or help pay off the debt on grain store,
Win win all round,

You won’t do them up in 9 months

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

You won’t do them up in 9 months

Depending on what needs doing though

 

[livestock 1]

Depending on what needs doing though

Done five here to a decent standard not fancy old cottages take time and cost more.
15/20k goes on ones that there’s nothing really the matter with just a bit tidy up

 

[Chickcatcher]

A bit of info if it has been Mt for more than 24 months you should be able to get a certificate that allows VAT to be @ 5%. Don't do it up to live in it yourself as you should be able to set costs of do up.

 

[tullah]

Not certain that applies in herefordshire, it doubles after 2yrs, and keeps on climbing every year until it's occupied.

Edit :- https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/council-tax-1/council-tax-discounts-exemptions/16

Theft

 

[Tarw Coch]

Not in Northumberland.Was told either knock it down,or remove the roof to get rid of Council Tax...........Thats the type of logic employed by Northumberland County Council.

Thanks for clarifying that, it was something I was told by quite a few people after I’d been doing up a property which took an extended amount of time, thought I’d slipped up but it looks like that’s not the case

 

[Barleycorn]

Never been a cheaper time to borrow money, don't sell assets.

 

[Green oak]

This is the cottage and the Dutch barn with the collapsed roof is were I would like to put the new grain store up.

 

[curlietailz]

Its a difficult one.I have something similar,and is going to cost north of £100,000 to do up properly.Currently uninhabitable but would be worth a few bob when fixed. Council Tax on mine is now 300% x Band A,so £4000/year.

Ditto
I feel your 300% pain

 

[tullah]

Thanks for clarifying that, it was something I was told by quite a few people after I’d been doing up a property which took an extended amount of time, thought I’d slipped up but it looks like that’s not the case

Careful. If it's too rundown then Council can refuse future planning permission.

 

[Tarw Coch]

Careful. If it's too rundown then Council can refuse future planning permission.

Several years ago now, done up and rented out.
It wasn’t that run down, as in an old lady had lived in it up until she died although not many would have lived in it like that

 

[tullah]

Several years ago now, done up and rented out.
It wasn’t that run down, as in an old lady had lived in it up until she died although not many would have lived in it like that

We had one like that and father paid double council tax for years. We could have classed it as beyond repair but were advised risk of no future planning. Virtually rebuilt it for son ten years ago.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

If you have an empty cottage, is there anything stopping you using it as a ‘second home’ (ie to house visiting friends, family etc, or as extra accommodation at lambing, calving, harvest etc)? Wouldn’t you then just pay 100% of council tax, rather than a multiple of that?

 

[slackjawedyokel]

Don’t forget that, if ‘doing up’, let houses have to have an energy performance (EPC) of C or better by 2025. In practice this is very difficult to achieve in old properties and will probably at least involve insulating EVERYTHING ( including digging up the ground floor to add insulation under).

Also EPC assessors will only asses what they can actually see with their eyes- some will not accept photos of insulation before it’s boarded over .