Landlords in Portsmouth go to war with city council over HMO payments

Martin Silman, the chairman of the Portsmouth & District Private Landlords' Association and an HMO landlord, said the number of cases being put to the Valuation Office Agency by the council was higher than elsewhere and pushing up rents.

The council said it 'does not have a policy that seeks to disaggregate HMOs for council tax banding purposes' and that it has 'no role' in any decision.

Council tax bands are assessed by the Valuation Office Agency which evaluates each building to determine how much it is liable to pay.

As HMOs are mostly converted from traditional homes, they usually receive one bill which is typically then paid by the landlord.

Mr Silman said he suspected the council was referring each one that comes through its planning system, which leads, in many cases, to each room being liable and an increase in the overall bill.

He said the council was using it as a 'tool' to increase its income in the wake of cuts to its budget by the government.

'Instead of getting £1,200 per home in council tax they will be able to charge each tenant £600 each,' he said. 'You wouldn't charge someone council tax for a self-contained unit which has no kitchen but that is what's happening.

'The rule was brought in to deal with commercial units being divided into flats to make sure council tax is correctly charged. What Portsmouth City Council is doing is legal but I don't think it's in the spirit of why it was brought in in the first place.'

Chris Ward, the council's director of finance, said he 'recognised' landlords' concerns and that the council was not deliberately seeking to 'disaggregate' council tax bills for HMOs.

But he said: 'The council has no role in determining the council tax band of properties in the city, or when any changes should be effective from. This is the responsibility of the Valuation Office Agency which then informs the council. We are then obliged to bill the council taxpayer from that date.'