would it exempt me from CT if I prove that it is HMO or in any case?

But even if I manage to prove them that i have been a student during all of the time and lived in a HMO with non-students it wouldn't exempt me from Council Tax, or would it?

So which way would you chose if you were me: 1)to keep sticking to the point that it's been HMO and there lived several unrelated people or 2)keep all proof of when I was a student and tell them that I've been renting the property on my own , but as I've always been a student I shouldn't have paid the CT?

I know that , but I haven't got any letters for council from colleges. What I've got is the vizas, enrolement letters from colleges and sertificates that i finished studies there, plus I have letters from the home office stating that i am a full time student etc...

2 brothers live in the other room, they are not sudents. they work

Formally Yes..But I do not study now, though I have a student visa. I am going to do viza extension this summer.

Should it be all the tenants that had lived here during the wole period of my tenancy or would it be enough only the guys who live here at the moment? Yes , he is a sort of a cowboy. He said that he is helping me out by telling the council that it is the previous tenant who must pay the CT. I started to put the cash into his account only this autumn, So, his bank statement print will only show that the money came from Pugilist1( not Pugilist of course, but only my first name and the number of the house)

But I think it is inevitable that the council will get in touch with me. After they find out that it was not the previous tenant who lived here. And the Landord will definetely tell them that it it me... That's why he keeps telling me now that he let the property only to me. I never agreed to that. Should I just wait for when a council bill will come on my name or better move out as soon as possible?

What are the chances do you think that anyone of us could be held responsible for the whole bill for all the time you have lived there it called Joint and several liability? What do you are my chances for success if I chose this way of solving the matter: I will get down the council asap & tell them: (a) How long I have been living there ( b ) Who has lived there with me during that time & when ( c ) That each tenancy has been agreed separately between Landlord & respective Tenant and no new Tenancy Agreement has been signed with all tenants each time household composition has changed (d) Landlord told me & several other tenants that he paid the C/Tax and that I should not worry about it. (e) That I have recently been collecting rent from other tenants & passing it on to Landlord, but only on an informal basis to help him out, not because I had agreed to take on responsibility for the whole tenancy. If I can back this up with written statements & contact details for previous tenants, this should hopefully be enough to convince the local authority that it is an HMO, am I right? I will also tell them what Landlord is planning to do (re blaming a prev tenant for C/Tax arrears) as this is fraud. I certainly will not sign any TAgreement under any circumstances, as I will then be liable for C/Tax, am I right? Of course, doing the above could well result in my Landlord serving me with S21 out of spite. But it will be pretty easy for ex-T that L is intending to stitch up to prove that he has not lived there, so ultimately I imagine council will get in touch with me. I will then have to provide above info to prove that I am not liable for the arrears. So, do you think guys I should do it sooner rather than later, as volunteering the info and reporting Landlord for attempted fraud proves my honesty a bit more?

The problem is that I've never seen any council tax bills. i do not know if it exists at all? I think if the landlord arose this question not long ago, then the council contacted him on this matter... But I am not sure... This is what I am going to say in court. I am going to say that I never been renting the full flat , but only a room, even a place in a room. I think couple of guys who lived here would be zble to confirm that they had separate oral agreements with the landlord, that they rented room and not from me but from the landlord. Do you think it will work in court and the responsibility will shift to the landlord? No ,the landlord does not live at this property.

oh my god... they will definetely establish that that guy is not responsible for the council tax. so what is the best way to solve this problem: if I secretly remove myself from the property the landlord will be able to shift the blame on me and it will not tak them long to track me anywhere in London, am I right? what should I do to avoid court? or what should I do to be prepared to the court...? I'm really at a loss: I've never commited any crime and never intended to ..I just do not deserve beeing sent to jail! I'm not a criminal!

I know that, but before I moved in the landlord said that I shouldn't pay the c.tax. I think it can be classified as a HMO, because in that flat lived 3 other guys, everyone had separate oral agreement with the landlord. So, I never wanted to be responsible for renting of the whole flat.

Now things are going to get much more complicated. My LL told me that he is going to tell the council that a person who lived at this property before me has been living there up to november 2009. By doing so the LL wants to shift responsibility of paying the council tax and make that guy responsible. Their contract ended about 3 years ago. I know that that guy still live in London. The questions now are: 1. Is the council going to hunt him? 2. What will happen when they(the council) get in touch with him? (That guy knows my full name and knows that I've been always living at this property after he moved out) 3. In case that the guy will bring an action against my LL what is going to hapen next? I mean what can I do now to let the council know that I never agreed with the LL to pay council tax and it is the LL who should pay it? Everyone's opinion is much wellcome.

Thank you very much. But I'm afraid it's not that simple..

Who have to pay the council tax: a tenant(me) or a landlord, if they haven't got a written tenancy agreement? Before the tenant moved in the landlord told me that I shouldn’t pay the council tax. But after 3 years passed the landlord says that I should have paid the council tax for the whole period of tenancy. It is a one bedroom flat in London. What should the tenant do to avoid this and obtain justice?