Council Tax information for landlords

Responsibility for Council Tax in rented properties depends on the type of tenancy agreement you have and who is living in the property.

When is a tenant responsible?

The tenant, or tenants, are responsible for the Council Tax when you rent the whole of the property to one person or family, or to joint tenants. We send the bill to your tenant(s).

When is the landlord responsible?

If you rent out the property to several people, and they each have an individual tenancy agreement to occupy only part of the building called a 'house in multiple occupation' (HMO), you are responsible for paying the Council Tax. We send the bill to you. 

Under Council Tax regulations, where a property is not anyone's main residence, it is the owner of the property who becomes responsible for Council Tax. 

An owner is a person who satisfies the following conditions:

a)   they have a material interest in the whole or any part of the dwelling; and

b)   that at least part of the dwelling (or the part concerned) is not subject to a material interest inferior to their interest.

Renters' Rights Act 

From 1 May 2026, reforms to the private rented sector in England are bringing in new rights and responsibilities for landlords, letting agents and tenants.

Most new and existing tenancies in the private rented sector will become assured periodic tenancies, or "rolling tenancies". Fixed term tenancies will be banned.

This means tenants can stay in their property until:

• the tenant ends the tenancy
• you or your agent serves a valid notice to end the tenancy
• you or your agent gets a court order or possession order

The tenant can end the tenancy at any point by giving two months' notice.

You will need to understand what the changes mean for you, more information about the Renters' Rights Act can be found on our Renters' Rights Act 2025 web page.

Change of address

If a tenant moves in or out of your property you can use the change of address form to tell us about the changes. You will need your tenant's name, previous or forwarding address and the names of any other people aged 18 or over who live with the tenant.

Do not tell us about a change of address more than 14 days before the tenant is due to move. You will need to provide your own information when asked 'Are you completing this form on behalf of somebody else?'.

Tell us if a tenant has moved into or out of your property on our Moving home page.

Dispute

If you wish to dispute the period for which you have been charged Council Tax on a property you rent out, please complete the Council Tax Landlord form and provide supporting evidence, such as tenancy agreements, rent payments, eviction notice or notice to vacate from your tenant.

If you require further details please visit the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support - Landlords page.

Information upload

If you need to provide documents to Council Tax, you can use the Council Tax Landlord form to upload a maximum of 3 documents.