Joint & Several Liability

Couples living together will both be liable. This applies whether the couple is married, cohabiting or in civil partnership or when they are joint tenants or owners. Joint and several liability to the council tax will arise on any day where there is more than one person on the same level of the hierarchy and there is no other person with a greater interest in the dwelling. This applies regardless of whether there is any relationship between the people so that:

three people who are unrelated but hold a joint tenancy are considered to be jointly and severally liable for the council tax provided that there is no other resident in the dwelling who holds a freehold or leasehold interest, likewise,
five people who all fall within the definition of resident but hold no other interest in the dwelling would be jointly and severely liable for the tax unless some other resident holds an interest in the dwelling which places them on a higher rung of the hierarchy, and
where the dwelling is unoccupied and two or more people fall within the definition of owner then they will all be jointly and severally liable.

A spouse or civil partner who is under the age of 18 years cannot be held jointly and severally liable because he/she does not fulfil the definition of resident. Likewise, if the spouse or civil partner does not occupy the dwelling as his/her sole or main residence or the couple are separated, no joint and several liability will arise. In practice it may be difficult to determine when a couple separate unless there is legal evidence of the separation.

Joint and several liability will start on the day of marriage, or of living together, and cease at the end of the day before any separation. However, a person who is severely mentally impaired cannot be held jointly liable for the council tax, and from 1st April 2004, a student is also exempted from joint and several liability.

If only one person lives in the property they will be the liable person. If more than one person lives there, the hierarchy of liability is used to work out who is the liable person.

However, apart from the lowest level of the hierarchy, the liable person must be a resident in the dwelling which means that they must:

be over the age of 18 years, and
occupy the dwelling as their sole or main residence

It follows therefore, that if a dwelling is occupied, for example, only by 17 year olds they cannot be held liable for the council tax and liability will fall to the owner of the dwelling.