FOI request (FOIR-692639245)

Council Tax Queries - Housing Associations Landlords

Requested Tue 04 March 2025
Responded Fri 28 March 2025

Please answer for all and any billing authorities you work within or manage.

1. Please advise if there is anyone who deals with Housing associations landlords within council tax team, please provide their name, direct email address and phone number too please. If not, please provide and alternative email address, where we can get complicated queries dealt with and advise who can take responsibility for responding to queries. For example, who can review the portfolio and advise if there are long term empty property premiums applied to accounts, with a view to getting these brought back into use. Or advise how many accounts have an outstanding balance with courts summons or out with debt collectors.

2. Is it possible to arrange an in person or teams meeting to discuss accounts and get certainty that they are up to date? How can this be arranged and who with? Please provide contact details.

3. Can you please advise if there is an online portal that is useable for a Housing Association to log on and download bills and review accounts. Please advise how we can get access.

4. Please advise if the council tax department can extract data showing closed accounts with balances and or open accounts with long term premiums added.

5. Please advise, if the council has a registered charity or housing association listed as the account holder, is it policy to automatically apply class B exemption or does this need to be applied for each time a tenant changes? Please let me know if there is a different policy.

6. Does the council automatically issue refunds for credits on accounts or do they have to be requested?

Response

The Freedom of Information Act is based on recorded information held by a local authority, it is not a tool to ask general questions.

Should you wish to discuss this further, please contact: David Sims, Revenues Team Manager, email: david.sims@hastings.gov.uk or telephone: 01424 451066