Updating post from Reddit.
Your Local Authority funds services (collecting bins, firemen, police, etc..) from Council Tax. All HMOs will pay Council Tax is one of the two methods below. It should not be confused with HMO Licensing an additional fee charged by your Local Authority.
There are two ways in which Council Tax may apply to premises.
When Council Tax is based on individual rooms it is the occupants that are billed (unless otherwise stated in a tenancy agreement).
When Council Tax in an HMO is based on the whole property the landlord is billed and therefore should take this into consideration when charging rent.
Which method your Local Authority decides to charge it is best to consol the Government's Council Tax Manual, specifically, Practice Note 6.
When the Local Authority finds multiple properties within a single self-contained unit, they must then consider if it is appropriate to aggregate.
There are several factors to consider when deciding whether to aggregate or not. A judgement will be needed in every case. The thought process and decision must be fully recorded as a record of the decision might be needed if there is a legal challenge.
There is no simple rule, as each HMO is different. The Local Authority will make a decision based on a balance of factors as listed below.
🟢 Like properties occupied by single households or a Former house previously occupied by single household
🟢 Few Structural Alterations with Few Adaptions
🟢 4 or less rooms
🟢 No Private Cooking Facilities per unit
🟢 No Private Washing / WC Facilities per unit
🟢 Communal Space possible for all occupiers to socialise
🟢 Shorter term agreements or single joint tenancy of the whole
🟢 Not a "Registered HMO"
The power to aggregate is available only to the Local Authority. It is not possible for a Valuation Tribunal to "step into the Local Authority's shoes" and order the Local Authority to aggregate.
The HMO Council Tax Reform Group is working on campaigning against unnecessary rebranding to individual rooms.