The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992

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[^f00001], 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.

2

In this Order—

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

• “care home” means—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; andin 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;

• “HMO” 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;

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

• “refuge” means a building in Wales which is operated by a person otherwise than for profit and is used wholly or mainly for the temporary accommodation of persons who have been subject to any incident or pattern of incidents of—controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour;physical violence;abuse of any other description (whether physical or mental in nature); orthreats of any such violence or abuse,from persons to whom they are or were married, are or were in a civil partnership or with whom they are or were co-habiting;

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

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

3

Subject to articles 3A and 3C articles 3A and 3B, where a single property 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.

4

• (1) Subject to article 3C, where a multiple property—

• (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.

Signed

Michael Heseltine — Secretary of State for the Environment — 9th March 1992

David Hunt — Secretary of State for Wales — 9th March 1992

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Section 3 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 defines a dwelling for the purposes of the council tax provisions for England and Wales. Article 3 of this Order provides for cases in which properties which would otherwise be treated as single dwellings are to be treated as more than one. Article 4 gives the listing officer a discretion to treat what would otherwise be multiple dwellings as single ones, in prescribed circumstances.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1992 c. 14.

Editorial notes

[^key-6177db76574da7645fc627f67fb3eb14]: Art. 1 in force at 31.3.1992, see art. 1

[^key-f33f1a556c42100aaeb8c9d197e95182]: Art. 2 in force at 31.3.1992, see art. 1

[^key-3f5cf6ac8f26f657a57ba6fca3ffcee2]: Art. 3 in force at 31.3.1992, see art. 1

[^key-eb21c1c5ed98c5e9aafb30db1ff96d59]: Art. 4 in force at 31.3.1992, see art. 1

[^key-8b9df89f20b94a86d4ac6d661aececc4]: 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)

[^key-a6586455486248ccce26116aa16bcd87]: 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)

[^key-c881c533b3fabcbafba3def4648ef4a3]: Words in art. 3 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(b)

[^key-fd5179ac23b047ae243755cdd568148e]: 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)

[^key-96c8c3ef6489ff0623f4396e7c2a38ef]: Words in art. 3 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(b)

[^key-e60062ea3d128c46f6193f2b5d09a303]: 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)

[^key-935f3c614c4be71a1aea78b0fa3f7ef8]: 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)

[^key-0f233669ef3510f22c6df653c8fb6e28]: Words in art. 2 inserted (W.) (22.10.2014) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/2653), arts. 1(1), 3(a)

[^key-4065ac6f924edf3ba23ac56fd9572dcc]: Words in art. 3 substituted (W.) (22.10.2014) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/2653), arts. 1(1), 3(b)

[^key-99afd2f171bf10cdddbb6313a0292672]: 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)

[^key-742977c86d86abf962a9abc25ae79e06]: 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)

[^key-13f7392f80836604e102eee0645c6eb7]: Art. 3C inserted (E.) (1.12.2023) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1175), regs. 1(2), 2(4)

[^key-0f1202eb45bebbc46f6915eb792908e0]: Words in art. 2 inserted (E.) (1.12.2023) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1175), regs. 1(2), 2(2)

[^key-180282e4f911b3d0ef72c27224102676]: Words in art. 3 substituted (E.) (1.12.2023) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1175), regs. 1(2), 2(3)

[^key-5657b4aea02ae435b4fd1a27af5c5dc3]: Words in art. 4(1) substituted (E.) (1.12.2023) by The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1175), regs. 1(2), 2(5)

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 Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, in relation to Wales, or Part 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, in relation to England and each such unit shall be treated as a dwelling.

3B

A refuge must be treated as a single dwelling.

3C

For the purposes of Part 1 of the Act, an HMO must be treated as a single dwelling.