Statutory Instruments

1992 No. 549

COUNCIL TAX, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992_I1_,_I2

Made

9th March 1992

Laid before

10th March 1992

Coming into force

31st March 1992

The Secretary of State for the Environment, as respects England, and the Secretary of State for Wales, as respects Wales, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 3(5)(a) and (b) and section 113(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992(1), and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order—

1. This Order may be cited as the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992 and shall come into force on 31st March 1992.

case2. In this Order—

“ the Act ” means the Local Government Finance Act 1992 ;

[^F1 “ care home ” means—

(a)

in relation to England, a care home within the meaning of the Care Standards Act 2000, in respect of which a person is registered in accordance with Part 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008; and

(b)

in relation to Wales, a place at which a care home service, within the meaning of Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, is provided wholly or mainly to persons aged 18 or over;^F1]

[^F2 “ HMO ”—

(a)

in relation to England means a building or part of a building which is a “ house in multiple occupation ” as defined by section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 but as if subsections (1)(e) and (5) of that section were omitted;

(b)

in relation to Wales means a building or part of a building which is a “ house in multiple occupation ” as defined by section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 but—

(i)

as if subsections (1)(e) and (5) of that section were omitted, and

(ii)

in applying the test for when persons are to be treated as occupying a building or part of a building as their only or main residence under section 254(2)(c) of the Housing Act 2004, as if section 259(2)(b) of that Act were omitted;^F2]

“ multiple property ” means property which would, apart from this Order, be two or more dwellings within the meaning of section 3 of the Act;

[^F3 “ refuge ” means a building in Wales that is a Class Y dwelling under regulation 29 of the Council Tax (Discounts, Disregards and Exemptions) (Wales) Regulations 2026 . ^F3]

“ single property ” means property which would, apart from this Order, be one dwelling within the meaning of section 3 of the Act;

[^F4 “ self-contained unit ” means a building or a part of a building which has been constructed or adapted for use as separate living accommodation. ^F4]

case[^F5 3. Subject to articles 3A and 3C, where a single property in England contains more than one self contained unit, for the purposes of Part I of the Act, the property shall be treated as comprising as many dwellings as there are such units included in it and each such unit shall be treated as a dwelling.^F5]

[^F5 3ZA.—(1) Where a single property in Wales contains more than one self-contained unit, the property must, for the purposes of Part I of the Act, be treated as comprising as many dwellings as there are such units included in it and each such unit must be treated as a dwelling.

(2) But this article does not apply to a dwelling which falls within articles 3A, 3B or 3C.^F5]

^F6[^F7 3A. A care home shall be treated as comprising the number of dwellings found by adding one to the number of self-contained units occupied by, or if currently unoccupied, provided for the purpose of accommodating, the person registered in respect of it in accordance with [^F8 Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016^F8] , [^F9 in relation to Wales, or Part 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, in relation to England^F9] and each such unit shall be treated as a dwelling.^F7]

[^F10 3B. A refuge [^F11 in Wales^F11] must be treated as a single dwelling.^F10]

[^F12 3C. For the purposes of Part 1 of the Act, an HMO in England or Wales must be treated as a single dwelling.^F12]

case[^F13 4.—(1) Subject to article 3C, where a multiple property in England—

(a) consists of a single self contained unit, or such a unit together with or containing premises constructed or adapted for non-domestic purposes; and

(b) is occupied as more than one unit of separate living accommodation,

the listing officer may, if he thinks fit, subject to paragraph (2) below, treat the property as one dwelling.

(2) In exercising his discretion in paragraph (1) above, the listing officer shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the extent, if any, to which the parts of the property separately occupied have been structurally altered.^F13]

[^F13 5.—(1) The listing officer may, if they think fit, treat a multiple property in Wales as one dwelling where it—

(a) consists of a single self-contained unit, or such a unit together with or containing premises constructed or adapted for non-domestic purposes, and

(b) is occupied as more than one unit of separate living accommodation.

(2) In exercising their discretion in paragraph (1), the listing officer must have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the extent, if any, to which the parts of the property separately occupied have been structurally altered.

(3) But the discretion in paragraph (2) does not apply to a dwelling which falls within article 3B or 3C.^F13]

Michael Heseltine

Secretary of State for the Environment

9th March 1992

David Hunt

Secretary of State for Wales

9th March 1992

(1)

1992 c. 14.

in force	Provision is in force
in force*	In force only for specified purposes (for detail about the purposes see/hover footnote)
not in force	Not in force in England (may be in force in other geographies, see footnotes)
italics	Defined term
_dfn	Defined term (alternative style)
gry bckgrd	the in-force status of the provision is complex, check the footnotes

in force

Provision is in force

in force*

In force only for specified purposes (for detail about the purposes see/hover footnote)

not in force

Not in force in England (may be in force in other geographies, see footnotes)

italics

Defined term

_dfn

Defined term (alternative style)

gry bckgrd

the in-force status of the provision is complex, check the footnotes

footnote	commentary	geo extent	insert/omit
F1	Words in art. 2 substituted (W.) (2.4.2018) by The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (Consequential Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/48), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 4(2)	substituted: Wales	substituted
F2	Words in art. 2 substituted (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(a)		substituted
F3	Words in art. 2 substituted (W.) (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(b)	substituted: Wales	substituted
F4	Words in art. 2 substituted (1.4.1997) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings, Exempt Dwellings and Discount Disregards) Amendment Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/656), arts. 1(2), 2(2)		substituted
F5	Arts. 3, 3ZA substituted for art. 3 (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(3)		substituted
F5	Arts. 3, 3ZA substituted for art. 3 (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(3)		substituted
F6	Art. 3A inserted (W.) (1.4.2005) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings, Exempt Dwellings and Discount Disregards) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/2921), arts. 1(1), 2(c)	inserted: Wales	inserted
F7	Art. 3A inserted (E.) (1.1.2004) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings, Exempt Dwellings and Discount Disregards) (Amendment) (England) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3121), arts. 1(1), 2(c)	inserted: England	inserted
F8	Words in art. 3A substituted (W.) (2.4.2018) by The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (Consequential Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/48), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 4(3)	substituted: Wales	substituted
F9	Words in art. 3A inserted (23.8.2012) by The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Consequential Amendments) (Council Tax) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1915), arts. 1, 2(3)		inserted
F10	Art. 3B inserted (W.) (22.10.2014) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/2653), arts. 1(1), 3(c)	inserted: Wales	inserted
F11	Words in art. 3B inserted (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(4)		inserted
F12	Art. 3C substituted (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(5)		substituted
F13	Arts. 4, 5 substituted for art. 4 (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(6)		substituted
F13	Arts. 4, 5 substituted for art. 4 (3.6.2026) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (W.S.I. 2026/88), regs. 1(2), 2(6)		substituted
I1	Art. 1 in force at 31.3.1992, see art. 1
I2	Art. 2 in force at 31.3.1992, see art. 1

Defined Term	Section/Article	ID
care home	2.	def_085e05b904
HMO	Unknown	def_bc13d63922
house in multiple occupation	Unknown	def_5b3227f07f
house in multiple occupation	Unknown	def_6631839625
multiple property	Unknown	def_870f2ec1d9
refuge	Unknown	def_9ad05ac385
self-contained unit	Unknown	def_92f26f1fec
single property	Unknown	def_2ab7923ffb
the Act	2.	def_cb27b01148

1992 No. 549

The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992I1,I2

Status of changes to instrument text

The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992_I1_,_I2