In Ireland over the past few years – Local authorities have sold about 140,000 residential properties to tenants on leases for terms exceeding 20 years.
Some of the owners of these ex council homes might think they are not liable for the Household Charge .
Under the legislation, the tenant purchasers concerned are owners of residential property for the purposes of the household charge.
The Household Charge Act has a defintion of an owner which includes cases where “the property is let under a lease for a term exceeding 20 years, the person (other than a mortgagee not in possession) who is the lessee under that lease.”
So – purchasers of council houses are liable for the full charge.