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Maintaining credit file when living aboard


NB DW

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Firstly, thanks for everyone's input on my previous thread. 

 

Just a quick question to those who've experience of living aboard.  I'm still contemplating letting my home out in full rather than taking on a lodger.  I'm able to register my bank accounts, cards etc at my dad's home, as well as driving licence and passport, and also use his address to update my mortgage provider too.  I cannot register there for council tax though or pay utilities at that address, so I'm basically using it as a forwarding address for post.

 

I don't know if this is the equivalent of fronting though.  Are there legal implications or wrongdoings here?

 

And in the future, when I want to remortgage or access credit etc, what then?  Can I use my dad's address and my credit history be linked to that?  I'm sure plenty of people who are living with their parents, regardless of age, are basically doing what I'd be doing in terms of using their address (other than not actually residing there) and not having bills in their name.

 

I'm really anxious over making a mess of this.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

 

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Do you need to register for council tax? Will you be living in a marina on a residential mooring? If so, I think council tax would be applicable and you'd be paying it as the marina being your permanent address. If you're going to be continuous cruising then you don't need to pay or register to pay for council tax. As for your home, why wouldn't you be using that as the address for paying council tax or if you have someone living there, surely that is their responsibility? Isn't that how letting a house/flat works? I could be wrong but do have vague recollections of paying council tax or whatever it was when I last rented a place in the UK. Seems to me that if you own a place the council tax would be registered under that address and whoever lives there pays it. For you on a boat, unless you're in a marina or on a residential mooring you probably won't be needing to pay council tax.

 

For me, I'm registered at my folk's address for my bank, mobile phone and electoral register, plus a few other things such as personal loans. It's decent of my folks to allow me to do that and I in turn will have to make sure I don't muck up my financial affairs so it doesn't have any impact on them. So far, so good.

Edited by NB Caelmiri
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2 minutes ago, NB Caelmiri said:

Do you need to register for council tax? Will you be living in a marina on a residential mooring? If so, I think council tax would be applicable and you'd be paying it as the marina being your permanent address. If you're going to be continuous cruising then you don't need to pay or register to pay for council tax. As for your home, why wouldn't you be using that as the address for paying council tax or if you have someone living there, surely that is their responsibility? Isn't that how letting a house/flat works? I could be wrong but do have vague recollections of paying council tax or whatever it was when I last rented a place in the UK. Seems to me that if you own a place the council tax would be registered under that address and whoever lives there pays it. For you on a boat, unless you're in a marina or on a residential mooring you probably won't be needing to pay council tax.

 

For me, I'm registered at my folk's address for my bank, mobile phone and electoral register, plus a few other things such as personal loans. It's decent of my folks to allow me to do that and I in turn will have to make sure I don't muck up my financial affairs so it doesn't have any impact on them. So far, so good.

 

I won't have a residential mooring and the marina won't allow for use of their address for mail.  So for that reason there'll be no council tax.

 

Letting my property out of course means the tenant would of course be liable.

 

This is more a question of it counting as fronting, using somebody else's address to obtain credit etc, but not living there.

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Just now, NB DW said:

 

I won't have a residential mooring and the marina won't allow for use of their address for mail.  So for that reason there'll be no council tax.

 

Letting my property out of course means the tenant would of course be liable.

 

This is more a question of it counting as fronting, using somebody else's address to obtain credit etc, but not living there.

Ah right, gotcha. Which is basically what I'm doing. I'm not sure about the longer term implications but as I don't have an alternative address to worry about. I'll be interested to see what/if there are implications and what other people suggest in this thread but for me I do/did need an address for my bank etc. and had no other alternative than to use my parent's.

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27 minutes ago, NB DW said:

 

I won't have a residential mooring and the marina won't allow for use of their address for mail.  So for that reason there'll be no council tax.

 

Letting my property out of course means the tenant would of course be liable.

 

This is more a question of it counting as fronting, using somebody else's address to obtain credit etc, but not living there.

Why? You pay the Council Tax and add it to the tenant;s rent charge.

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I think its unnecessary trouble, as you are not a CCer and planning to live in a marina not too far, you can visit your house once a while. (so keeping a lodger makes better sense)

Full house rental also needs new mortgage (usually expensive). 

Edited by restlessnomad
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4 minutes ago, restlessnomad said:

I think its unnecessary trouble, as you are not a CCer and planning to live in a marina not too far, you can visit your house once a while. (so keeping a lodger makes better sense)

Full house rental also needs new mortgage (usually expensive). 

There's precious little interest in the room I've advertised for let so far - it's only been up 48 hours though I suppose, so I'm maybe impatient!  I think demand for it being let in full might be better.

 

The lender said they'd add 1% to my interest rate which adds maybe £40 a month but no need to remortgage.

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3 minutes ago, NB DW said:

There's precious little interest in the room I've advertised for let so far - it's only been up 48 hours though I suppose, so I'm maybe impatient!  I think demand for it being let in full might be better.

 

The lender said they'd add 1% to my interest rate which adds maybe £40 a month but no need to remortgage.

did you check https://www.spareroom.co.uk ? 

you can search there and see people who want room (people who need room can post there). Just put your postcode and search. You can see their profile, picture, interest, age, gender etc.

you can pay 25 quid to put your ad for a month. Much better site than gumtree for sharing( which has dodgy people)

 

 

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1 minute ago, restlessnomad said:

did you check https://www.spareroom.co.uk ? 

you can search there and see people who want room (people who need room can post there). Just put your postcode and search. You can see their profile, picture, interest, age, gender etc.

you can pay 25 quid to put your ad for a month. Much better site than gumtree for sharing( which has dodgy people)

 

 

That's the one.  And I upgraded the ad too.  I sent out quite a few messages and I can see most have been read but not many replies.

 

I've somebody coming to look on Wednesday afternoon so fingers crossed.

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1 hour ago, NB DW said:

I won't have a residential mooring and the marina won't allow for use of their address for mail.

You say you won't be CCing and that you will be living on board (in the marina) due to work.

 

I'd suggest that you keep you plan B (a room in your own house) option open.

 

If the marina does not allow residential use, you could be evicted - it is not unknown.

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

You say you won't be CCing and that you will be living on board (in the marina) due to work.

 

I'd suggest that you keep you plan B (a room in your own house) option open.

 

If the marina does not allow residential use, you could be evicted - it is not unknown.

 

The marina very much tolerates 'extended stays' and I've had the conversation in person with both marinas I'm interested in.

 

But you're absolutely right, there'd be nothing stopping a sudden change of heart in the future.

 

Looks like taking on a lodger is the best way to go.

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8 hours ago, NB DW said:

Looks like taking on a lodger is the best way to go

It also takes away all the ‘what ifs’ regarding your credit rating, electoral roll listing etc 

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12 hours ago, NB DW said:

 

I won't have a residential mooring and the marina won't allow for use of their address for mail.  So for that reason there'll be no council tax.

 

Letting my property out of course means the tenant would of course be liable.

 

This is more a question of it counting as fronting, using somebody else's address to obtain credit etc, but not living there.

I have a non-residential mooring, which is billed for council tax by being classed as a second home by the council (Fenland). The bills are sent to my home in Dorset.

Edited by nbfiresprite
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30 minutes ago, nbfiresprite said:

I have a non-residential mooring, which is billed for council tax by being classed as a second home by the council (Fenland). The bills are sent to my home in Dorset.

That seems quite 'worrying', how can you live in a property / boat that does not have residential planning permission, and how can you be charged council tax for something that doesn't have residential PP ?

 

So you can have a second home in the Fens, you can 'live in it' but it is not residential.

 

The Council tax is raised against the mooring, not the boat as the boat is an hereditament. The boat is only included if it has 'permanency' on the mooring. It is for this reason that many marinas insist that boats change moorings twice a year so that the marina can be given a composite rating rather than each berth being given a Band-A rating and costing the boater far, far more.

At a marina I was in, I had great difficulty in getting some of the residential moorers to accept this as "this is my mooring and I'm not moving" was widesprpead.

The composite CT for the residential moorings was about £5000 for the 12 moorings, but to be granted the composite rate the boats had to move twice a year within the marina. The CT cost to each boater was a tad over £400 each.

Refusal to accept the moving requirement meant that their mooring would be subject to an individual rating and given Band-A at £1200

 

It eventually dawned what I was trying to explain and agreement with 'management' was made.

They agreed amongst themselves a 'moving partner' and every 6 months would swap places with a boat 2 or 3 slots further down the pontoon, thus saving £800 per annum.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

That seems quite 'worrying', how can you live in a property / boat that does not have residential planning permission, and how can you be charged council tax for something that doesn't have residential PP ?

 

So you can have a second home in the Fens, you can 'live in it' but it is not residential.

 

The Council tax is raised against the mooring, not the boat as the boat is an hereditament. The boat is only included if it has 'permanency' on the mooring. It is for this reason that many marinas insist that boats change moorings twice a year so that the marina can be given a composite rating rather than each berth being given a Band-A rating and costing the boater far, far more.

At a marina I was in, I had great difficulty in getting some of the residential moorers to accept this as "this is my mooring and I'm not moving" was widesprpead.

The composite CT for the residential moorings was about £5000 for the 12 moorings, but to be granted the composite rate the boats had to move twice a year within the marina. The CT cost to each boater was a tad over £400 each.

Refusal to accept the moving requirement meant that their mooring would be subject to an individual rating and given Band-A at £1200

 

It eventually dawned what I was trying to explain and agreement with 'management' was made.

They agreed amongst themselves a 'moving partner' and every 6 months would swap places with a boat 2 or 3 slots further down the pontoon, thus saving £800 per annum.

 

 

 

This is the case when you hand over the collection of Council tax to a private company (Anglia Revenues Partnership). Dealing with this brunch of money grabing crooks is a long drawnout process. The only method of contact is through e-mail or online form, which then requires that you wait 10 to 12 weeks for a reply. As for being moved around the marina, this happens 4 or 5 times a year. I yet to get the reason as to why the boat is classed as a second home, more worrying is that the address on the council tax listing is not even the marina address but at a house at the other end of the road. I taken this matter up with the Valuation Office Agency who claim that it is not their problem and that it is the Council who have to correct the address,  Which the Anglia Revenues Partnership don't do. I'm not able to take it to the Ombudsman until I have gone through the long winded complaint proess. Which is clearly designed to make people give up.  

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14 hours ago, NB DW said:

That's the one.  And I upgraded the ad too.  I sent out quite a few messages and I can see most have been read but not many replies.

 

I've somebody coming to look on Wednesday afternoon so fingers crossed.

I seem to remember a funny thing with spare room that for the first day or so, only people who've paid a subscription can reply to your adverts? Meaning that basically it's useless for the first couple of days, as most people just browse for free. I found gumtree very good for letting rooms. 

6 hours ago, WotEver said:

It also takes away all the ‘what ifs’ regarding your credit rating, electoral roll listing etc 

I believe also that lodgers have far fewer rights than those on tenancy agreements, meaning that if you get a bad one, it's easier to get rid. There is definitely minimum residency requirement though for the landlord, in order the lodger to be classed as such, and if the landlord doesn't meet them I believe they can automatically gain rights as a tenant. Please check this, as it's just from memory, but I think it's important to be aware. 

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3 hours ago, nbfiresprite said:

I have a non-residential mooring, which is billed for council tax by being classed as a second home by the council (Fenland). The bills are sent to my home in Dorset.

Than you need to challenge that.  I know someone who was in a similar situation, challenged it and won. Non-residential mooring are not liable to council tax.

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The composite CT for the residential moorings was about £5000 for the 12 moorings, but to be granted the composite rate the boats had to move twice a year within the marina. The CT cost to each boater was a tad over £400 each.

Refusal to accept the moving requirement meant that their mooring would be subject to an individual rating and given Band-A at £1200

 

It eventually dawned what I was trying to explain and agreement with 'management' was made.

They agreed amongst themselves a 'moving partner' and every 6 months would swap places with a boat 2 or 3 slots further down the pontoon, thus saving £800 per annum.

 

 

 

But to be completely clear, that £5000 between 12 moorings, only existed because they were residential moorings.  Had they been leisure moorings, there would have been no council tax payable.

 

Firesprite claims his mooring is classed as a second home and that's why Fenland charge council tax.  However, for a second home to be liable it has to fall within planning use class C3 which is residential dwelling.  A leisure mooring falls within planning use class Sui Generis and is therefore not liable for council tax.

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28 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Than you need to challenge that.  I know someone who was in a similar situation, challenged it and won. Non-residential mooring are not liable to council tax.

What do you think I been doing for the last two years, Dealing with the private company (Anglia Revenues Partnership) who are only interested in profit is long and drawnout, Where the timescace for a reply is not days ,or weeks, but months. My mooring agreement clearly states non-residential which I sent copies. The marina moorings are zoned for business rates. I have yet to get a reason for the boat being classed as a second home. I even sent a copy of the 1978 planning permission for the building of the marina which claerly states non-residential use. Some winter moorers were billed for simple not being able to produce a Council Tax bill in their name. Many spend the winter in Spain. Hence I'm now in the long drawnout complaint proess. I expect in the end for the Ombudsman to rule in my favour.   

Edited by nbfiresprite
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24 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

But to be completely clear, that £5000 between 12 moorings, only existed because they were residential moorings.  Had they been leisure moorings, there would have been no council tax payable.

 

Yes, agreed.

24 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Firesprite claims his mooring is classed as a second home and that's why Fenland charge council tax.  However, for a second home to be liable it has to fall within planning use class C3 which is residential dwelling.  A leisure mooring falls within planning use class Sui Generis and is therefore not liable for council tax.

 

Agreed and that was the point both I and Firesprite were making.

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16 minutes ago, nbfiresprite said:

 

What do you think I been doing for the last two years,

I don't know you so I had no idea what you've been doing.  I was trying to be of help.  In your position, I'd be tempted to simply stop paying and put the ball firmly in their court.  Then make a county court claim for the payments already made. 

 

At the risk of another spiky response - have you involved your MP or ward councillors?

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