I propose to take Questions Nos. 351 and 383 together.
The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 and the Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, set out the legislation underpinning the household charge and the charge on non-principal private residences respectively.
Application of the legislation in particular circumstances is a matter for the relevant local authority. Interpretation of the legislation is a matter for legal advice in individual cases and ultimately a matter for the Courts. Under the legislation, an owner of a residential property on the relevant liability dates is liable to pay the charges, unless otherwise exempted or entitled to claim a waiver. The charges are on a self-assessment basis and it is a matter for an owner of a residential property on the liability date concerned to determine if he/she has a liability and, if so, to declare that liability and pay the charges by the due dates.
The legislation contains a common definition of "residential property" for the purposes of the Acts. Section 2(2)(d) of the Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 and section 2(2)(d) of the Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provide that a building that is wholly used as a dwelling (other than a dwelling that forms part of a mixed hereditament within the meaning of the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1978), and in respect of which local authority rates are payable, is not a residential property for the purposes of the household charge and the non-principal private residence charge respectively.