Paying council tax when a tenant leaves
The law sets out that when a property is empty, the owner is liable for council tax. The owner is whoever has a material interest in the property - either with a freehold or leasehold interest granted for 6 months or more.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 introduced tenancy reforms from 1 May 2026 which specifies who is liable for the Council Tax should a tenant leave a property empty before their tenancy end date.
Pre 1 May 2026
Assured shorthold tenancies
A common form of tenancy was an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) for a fixed term such as 6 months.
A tenant with a fixed-term tenancy of 6 months or more held a material interest and if they vacated before the end of their tenancy, they were liable for the council tax empty charge until their tenancy end-date.
If a tenant remained in the property after the expiry of the 6 months (in the absence of any provision in the original contract to the contrary or a new contract having been entered into), then the AST automatically reverted to a statutory periodic tenancy.
Statutory periodic tenancies
If a tenancy reverted to a statutory periodic tenancy this started a new contract, and if the rent was paid calendar monthly, then the contract ran on a month-by-month basis.
A tenant with a month-by-month statutory periodic tenancy did not have a material interest in the property, so they were only liable for council tax while they were living in the property. Once they vacated, the landlord was responsible for the council tax empty charge.
Contractual periodic tenancy
Instead of a statutory periodic tenancy, landlords could make clear in the original tenancy agreement that the tenancy would become a contractual periodic tenancy after the fixed period.
This meant the tenant continued to have a material interest in the property as the extension was treated as a continuation of the original contract.
Case law
Case law provided clarity as to who was liable for the council tax once a tenant vacated.
In the High Court case of MacAttram v London Borough of Camden 2012, the judge stated that fixed term and statutory periodic tenancies could not be joined together to make one total tenancy period of over 6 months.
Instead of being a continuation of the original tenancy, the tenancy became a new periodic tenancy and so the tenant could not be regarded as holding a material interest in the property from the start date of that new periodic tenancy.
In Leeds City Council v Broadley 2016 the High Court held that a contractual periodic tenancy following a 6 month fixed term took effect as a single term and not as two separate tenancies. Therefore the council tax liability remained with the tenant rather than the landlord.
Post 1 May 2026
From 1 May 2026, the Renters’ Rights Act:
- Abolished fixed term ASTs in England
- Replaced them with assured periodic tenancies from day one
- Removed the ability to create a 6 or 12 month material interest through fixed-term tenancies
The Renters’ Right Act includes a measure that clarifies council tax liability now fixed term ASTs are abolished and all private rented sector tenancies are periodic in nature.
The Act ensures tenants are liable for council tax until the end of the notice period, where they have served notice to end the tenancy but leave the property early. The relevant measure is in section 28 of the Act.
Last updated 01 May 2026