Citation, commencement and application

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Council Tax (Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (England) Regulations 2003 and shall come into force on 18th December 2003.

(2) These Regulations apply to dwellings in England only.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations—

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

“caravan” shall be construed in accordance with Part I of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 ( 2 ) ;

“Class A” means the class of dwellings described in regulation 4;

“Class B” means the class of dwellings described in regulation 5;

“Class C” means the class of dwellings described in regulation 7;

“qualifying person” means a person who is liable for the council tax in respect of a dwelling on a particular day, whether or not jointly with any other person, or who would be liable for the council tax in respect of a dwelling on a particular day if that dwelling did not fall within Class O of the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992 ( 3 ) ;

“the relevant year” means the financial year for which a billing authority makes a determination under section 11A of the Act;

an “unoccupied dwelling” means a dwelling in which no one lives. ” .

Prescribed classes

3. —(1) Class A and Class B are prescribed as classes of dwellings for the purposes of section 11A(3) of the Act for each financial year beginning on or after 1st April 2004.

(2) Class C is prescribed as a class of dwellings for the purposes of section 11A(4) of the Act for each financial year beginning on or after 1st April 2004.

Class A

4. The class of dwellings described in this regulation (“Class A”) comprises every chargeable dwelling in England —

(a) which is not the sole or main residence of an individual;

(b) which is furnished; and

(c) the occupation of which is restricted by a planning condition preventing occupancy for a continuous period of at least 28 days in the relevant year;

except that the class of dwellings described in this regulation shall not include any dwelling which is excluded from that class by virtue of regulation 6 below.

Class B

5. The class of dwellings described in this regulation (“Class B”) comprises every chargeable dwelling in England —

(a) which is not the sole or main residence of an individual;

(b) which is furnished; and

(c) the occupation of which is not restricted by a planning condition preventing occupancy for a continuous period of at least 28 days in the relevant year;

except that the class of dwellings described in this regulation shall not include any dwelling which is excluded from that class by virtue of regulation 6 below.

Exceptions

6. —(1) Class A and Class B shall not include any dwelling which consists of a pitch occupied by a caravan, or a mooring occupied by a boat.

(2) Class A and Class B shall not include any dwelling—

(a) where a qualifying person in relation to that dwelling is a qualifying person in relation to another dwelling which for him is job-related; or

(b) which for a qualifying person is job-related where that person is a qualifying person in relation to another dwelling.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), a dwelling is job-related if it falls within the description set out in paragraph 1 or 2 of the Schedule to these Regulations.

Class C

7. The class of dwellings described in this regulation (“Class C”) comprises every chargeable dwelling in England —

(a) which is unoccupied; and

(b) which is substantially unfurnished.

SCHEDULE JOB-RELATED DWELLINGS

1. —(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a dwelling is job-related for a person if it is provided for him by reason of his employment or for his spouse by reason of the spouse’s employment, in any of the following cases—

(a) where it is necessary for the proper performance of the duties of the employment that the employee should reside in that dwelling;

(b) where the dwelling is provided for the better performance of the duties of the employment, and it is one of the kinds of employment in the case of which it is customary for employers to provide dwellings to employees;

(c) where, there being a special threat to the employee’s security, special security arrangements are in force and the employee resides in the dwelling as part of those arrangements.

(2) If the dwelling is provided by a company and the employee is a director of that or an associated company, paragraph (a) or (b) of sub-paragraph (1) shall not apply unless either—

(a) the employment is as a full-time working director,

(b) the company is non-profit making, that is to say, it does not carry on a trade nor do its functions consist wholly or mainly in the holding of investments or other property, or

(c) the company is established for charitable purposes only.

2. —(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a dwelling is job-related for a person if he or his spouse is required, under a contract to which this sub-paragraph applies, to live in that dwelling.

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply if the dwelling concerned is in whole or in part provided by any other person or persons together with whom the person or spouse carries on a trade or business in partnership.

(3) A contract to which sub-paragraph (1) applies is a contract entered into at arm’s length and requiring the person concerned or his spouse (as the case may be) to carry on a particular trade, profession or vocation in a property provided by another person and to live in a dwelling provided by that other person.

3. In this Schedule—

• a company is an associated company of another person if one of them has control of the other or both are under the control of the same person;

• “director”, “full-time working director” and “control”, in relation to a body corporate have the same meanings as they have in sections 67 and 69 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003( 4 ) in relation to the benefits code;

• “provided” means provided under a tenancy or otherwise; and

references to the spouse of a person shall be taken to include references to a person of the opposite sex who is living with the other as that person’s husband or wife.