I've just heard this,dont know if its true .Students and there landlords dont have to pay any council tax?
If its true theres something wrong.There must be 40,000 in this city.
Do they not use the same facilties and recive the same services as the rest of us ?

Even if it was a token £20 a month from the landlords it all adds up and maybe the working people wond'nt get robbed blind covering the costs.

£1100 a year tuition fees is a fairly decent contribution to the pot dont you think?

Students don't pay council tax.

I'm getting a student to move into my house! Whoohoo!

Originally posted by Dick_Turpin
I've just heard this,dont know if its true .Students and there landlords dont have to pay any council tax?
If its true theres something
wrong.There must be 40,000 in this city.
Do they not use the same facilties and recive the same services as the rest of us ?

Even if it was a token £20 a month from the landlords it all adds up and maybe the working people wond'nt get robbed blind covering the costs.

That's correct; and it's how it should be. Students are not expected to be in full time employment in order to cover their full time studies.

Unemployed people do not pay council tax either.

40,00 students? really?

Originally posted by ptigga
That's correct; and it's how it should be. Students are not expected to be in full time employment in order to cover their full time studies.

Unemployed people do not pay council tax either.

40,00 students? really?

Thought it was 50,000 - Hallams high 20K's and sheff unis lower 20K's I think.

No no.I'm not on about the fees.Surely that goes into the education pot anyway.
I'm on about Police,Fire, .Even having the bins emptied and the streets cleaned.

I'm not having a go at Students in particular but i do think that if a landlord has a house with 5 living in it and charging them £30+ quid a week each it would'nt harm him to help pay towrds paying for the dibble to come out when a fire alarm is set off by burning toast etc.

Originally posted by Rossmeister
I'm getting a student to move into my house! Whoohoo!

I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, if you have a non-student in your house then you have to pay council tax.

I think there are around 50,000 students in Sheffield.

How do you suggest students pay for the council tax (along with student fees, and living expenses) if they are not working full, or even part time?

Well I've had a threatening letter from the council because my last payment was a day late.
I'm thinking yeah ok sorry.At least i'm out ther grafting and paying it,what about the dodgers.

Cant expect the student to pay it Mr Turpin. They're skint.
The student union Bars only take between £600,000 and £2m pounds a year!

Folks are getting carried away with what i meant here.

What i meant was, surely with the money they are making on rent the landlords should be able to pay some sort of fee for the services used by the property and the people who live in it.

Originally posted by Dick_Turpin

What i meant was, surely with the money they are making on rent the landlords should be able to pay some sort of fee for the services used by the property and the people who live in it.

Landlords do pay (are meant to pay) tax on rental properties that they don't themselves live in. Any forced Council Tax contribution would just raise the rent level, so students would pay anyway. I think in Sheffield that the majority of non-council tax payers are the unemployed and low earners. Of the 50,000 students, how many are part-time or non-sheffield resident? I reckon that number could be halveds to calculate the total number of 'student council tax dodgers'.
Will anyone out there know how many Sheffield residents are on COuncil Tax benefits?
I can see why the snotty council letter got Dick Turpin wound up. One day late and it's a court summons. Really not fair..

Originally posted by Dick_Turpin
Folks are getting carried away with what i meant here.

What i meant was, surely with the money they are making on rent the landlords should be able to pay some sort of fee for the services used by the property and the people who live in it.

Why should the landlords pay? It's not them using the services.

When landlords rent to professionals (i.e. employed people), it is up to the tennants to pay the council tax; not the landlord.

well if it is true that students do not have to pay council tax i would like to know why when i was a student, i was only deducted 25% off my council tax bill? surely it cannot be different rules and i should not be discriminated against just because i own my own house?
and not to be funny but since when do most student pay their tuition fees? its all about student loans etc, borrowing money. most student do not pay their fees, they get a loan which they do not have to pay back until they are earning -now what was it now think it is at least 18 thousand a year and even then its only about 100 quid a month.

Originally posted by Memphis Bell
well if it is true that students do not have to pay council tax i would like to know why when i was a student, i was only deducted 25% off my council tax bill? surely it cannot be different rules and i should not be discriminated against just because i own my own house?
and not to be funny but since when do most student pay their tuition fees? its all about student loans etc, borrowing money. most student do not pay their fees, they get a loan which they do not have to pay back until they are earning -now what was it now think it is at least 18 thousand a year and even then its only about 100 quid a month.

As I understand it, The Student Loan Company requires that you pay back at least 10 per cent of anything you earn over £10,000 each year.

If you have a student (or more than one) living with you, you do get a reduction off your council tax - could be about 25% but I'm not certain. If there are ONLY students in a house, no council tax is paid.

Students shouldn't pay council tax; they aren't earning.

And for all those people who moan about it - just look down West Street on a Friday or Saturday night; the amount that all the students in Sheffield add to the local economy is immense!!

Hang on, are you lot saying that if council tax payment is only one day late that you get a court summons? Surely any action is cancelled on payment?
As to rented accommodation someone should be paying for overflowing bins in houses with 5 or 6 tennants, students or not.

A bloke I used to work with didn't pay his council tax for 6 years - it was only then that Sheffield Council hassled him and threatened to take him to court.

I don't think it got as far as court but now he's paying it off monthly on top of each council tax bill.

Yeah, just look down west Street on a friday and Saturday night.
Smashing.

Maybe if some money went on services instead of over the bar West Street wouldnt be such a littered s**t hole.

Maybe i should give up this working for a living lark.It doesnt seem to pay.

Originally posted by Ned Ludd
Hang on, are you lot saying that if council tax payment is only one day late that you get a court summons? Surely any action is cancelled on payment?
As to rented accommodation someone should be paying for overflowing bins in houses with 5 or 6 tennants, students or not.

In my experience, when you pay one payment late (one day, say), you get a letter, This then accelerates you up the letters process, and any further late payments in the same year are a Court Summons. They really don't mess about these days.

As for full bins, it is the same council that lets massive volumes of HMOs in one road (or so I beleive?), so it's their duty to sort it out. Let's not have yet another student bashing thread, cos then it gets turned into an unemployed bash, and then chavs, and then loses the plot! Surely the issue is Council Tax rules, and all exempt people have bins, street lights and require the police...

How can anyone say students shouldn't be expected to pay council tax without a job. They do a good enough job of buyinhg fancy clothes from division street and gettting pi**ed 7 nights a week.

Originally posted by richynomates
Let's not have yet another student bashing thread, cos then it gets turned into an unemployed bash, and then chavs, and then loses the plot!


What about the Unemployed Student Chavs :D

its not like they even get grants anymore its all loans....

50,000 students say spend on average £200 per week. Think how much money they put in to the local ecomomy. And they are the only reason Sheffield HAS trendy clothes stores.

Trying to be serious, there seems to be 2 types of Students.

1 - The ones that are there to better themselves, To improve there chances of getting a decent job at the end of it. Maybe even a job that will benifit all of us in the future such as doctors etc. To these people I applaud you

2 - These are the ones that think that student life is the easy option. Or maybe they are scared of going into the real world of employment so continue in the same world as before (college / university being a continuation of school). It also seems that its these sort that do the 7 nights a week at the bar (Not saying that type 1 should not be able to enjoy themselves), and cause most of the trouble.



/rant

While you can slate students all you want out of jealousy that they don't have the same monotonous life the rest of us have it is a very short lived time. Most students these days leave university with a huge amount of debts so not only do they have to start their career in low paid jobs but it will be years before they actually have any credit. While university is a fairly easy time, they will pay for it in the end.

...............................

Originally posted by Greenback
As I understand it, The Student Loan Company requires that you pay back at least 10 per cent of anything you earn over £10,000 each year.

Actually the figure before you have to start repayments has been alot higher than that from the start. I went to Sheffield Hallam as a mature student from 1992 - 1996, which was just after student loans were introduced and even then you didn't have to start repayments until you were earning at least £14,000. It has gone up annually in line with the rate of inflation. Technically I could still defer repayment but have been repaying mine for the past 2 years now.

There has never been a requirement to pay back 10% over a certain figure it has always been a case of if you earn above the limit (whatever that may be at the time) you start repayments - these are basically repaying the amount owed over a 5 year period as you would with any other loan.

From the student loans website - Please note that the minimum threshold for a monthly repayment is calculated as 9% of disposable income over £10,000.

Originally posted by mjlacey21
From the student loans website - Please note that the minimum threshold for a monthly repayment is calculated as 9% of disposable income over £10,000.
This must be a recent change then because the information I have is that it is repaid over 5 years.

I imagine they changed it because of the amount people are needing to borrow now. I mean afterall, the average student is now borrowing anything up to £16,000 if their course is for 4 years that would make the repayments far too high for them over a 5 year period. I obviously hadn't heard this - thanks for the info, useful to know for my daughter who has now just started at uni.

Originally posted by mjlacey21
From the student loans website - Please note that the minimum threshold for a monthly repayment is calculated as 9% of disposable income over £10,000.

That is right, the Student Loans company changed the annual income threshold at which a graduate can defer. So if you graduated before a certain date (must be around 99ish) then you would still be on the old deferment level which is around £23k pa. If you graduated after this date the deferment level is stated above - however aren't they upping the threshold again when top-up fees start?

Not sure about the top-up fees, but I find this website quite useful in a nice'n'easy sort of way http://money.msn.co.uk/Student/BankingandFunding/LoansHome/Tools/Studentloanrepaymentestimator/default.asp

yes you are mate..how many of these free loaders will actually stay and work in sheffield when they get their degrees ?

Originally posted by Orko

Students shouldn't pay council tax; they aren't earning.

And for all those people who moan about it - just look down West Street on a Friday or Saturday night; the amount that all the students in Sheffield add to the local economy is immense!!

Don't you mean the amount students add to the booze industy's profits is immense ?

And I believe the govt. compensate councils for the amount of tax they lose for non-students who get relief from council tax. The demands on council services made by students are presumably paid for by the rest of us.

Hmmm...I wonder if the Unis pay council tax on all the property they own ?

Originally posted by Greybeard
Don't you mean the amount students add to the booze industy's profits is immense ?

And I believe the govt. compensate councils for the amount of tax they lose for non-students who get relief from council tax. The demands on council services made by students are presumably paid for by the rest of us.

Hmmm...I wonder if the Unis pay council tax on all the property they own ? WOW never thought of this one !!!!!do yo think it would appear on the yearly audit or would it be buried,nice one........will certainly ask my local councillor on saturday

Even if students who are currently in Sheffield don't stay - there'll still be the ones at other city universities who will come back to Sheffield. If Sheffield does miss out it's only because South Yorkshire doesn't currently have the job opportunities of other areas and you can't blame anyone for going where the demand is.

I think it's a pity that students, whose being here has done so much for Sheffield, get all this flack from the locals. They must really enjoy our warm welcome.

Depoix - you have a very dated view of students. In another post you mention grants which have not existed for a long time and now you automatically jump in with the free-loader stereotype. Today's student is lent money to help them through university and while some of it will be used for drinking and clubbing they will be paying interest on that amount. Chances are they will also be using overdrafts, which again will have to be paid off with interest, so at the end the student is the one who suffers for their lifestyle. Most students find it difficult to get into the areas their degree covered upon leaving university and have to work in minimum wage jobs at the same time as being in debt - people who didn't go to university do not have the debt and will be more established in their chosen career. By the way - no I am not a student.

I left university with 15K worth of loans, luckily being a teacher I get this paid off as long as I stay in teaching for 7 years. ( Not that it makes any differance to me as it's the job I've choosen to do!)

I've had immense trouble with paying my council tax in sheffield. When I started my first job over a year ago, I informed the council that I now needed to pay council tax, a few weeks later I recieved a tax exempt letter (stated we were students and exempt for the forthcoming year), so again I rang up to tell them they had it wrong , this went on for over 6 months, each time they could not send me the correct bill!

Eventually after 9 months they actually sent me the correct bill and then expected me to pay all of it at once! I rang up and explained that it was thier fault I was in arrears because they could not send me the correct bill and could I have the payments spread over the next year on top of the other bills. Another two months passed before they eventually got there act together and sent me the correct bill.

I wanted to pay direct debit ( for some odd reason they don't but a form in with the bill) so I rang again ( The average waiting time appears to be 15 mins+ each time) They could not set it up over the phone so they said they would send it in the post, i waited a month..... no direct debit form, so I rang up again......they said they would send it out again. Meanwhile they sent a court summons which we got charged for, even though I rang straight away and explained the problem.

So a year later after being honest and telling them we no longer students they have eventually set up the direct debit and we are now paying last years and this year council tax and the court summons.

I should of just left the bill at the beginning, never paid the council tax and not got charged for a court summons which was not my fault. We have written two letters of complaint and never even got a reply, when I ring to ask if they are going to reply they say they have not recieved either of the letters!

Any one else had theese probs with the council?

Originally posted by Orko
Even if students who are currently in Sheffield don't stay - there'll still be the ones at other city universities who will come back to Sheffield. If Sheffield does miss out it's only because South Yorkshire doesn't currently have the job opportunities of other areas and you can't blame anyone for going where the demand is.

I think it's a pity that students, whose being here has done so much for Sheffield, get all this flack from the locals. They must really enjoy our warm welcome.

Strangely enough, given the lack of jobs, Hallam constituency has the highest proportion of tertiary, and beyond, educated people in the country. Not bad for a city which doesn't have job opportunities.

As to the welcome given students imo there's only the usual whingers and moaners who don't appreciate their presence. On the whole the good folk of Sheffield are very welcoming to everyone who comes to live here as it's seen as a compliment to their city.

Evei, I think that was Dick's main compaint is the inflexibility of a council that issues a court summons because payment was one day late and allows it to proceed knowing they have the money in the bank.
Dick then has to pay Admin costs and if he hadn't kept financial records presumably could have been made to pay a second time through the court?
He should make a comlpaint about attempted fraud!

I might well be wrong, but it always seemed to me that the final notice for council tax arrived three weeks after the due date and then you had a week to pay before an automatic fine? Not sure about it, because the red letter tends to make me cough up pretty fast anyway!

Originally posted by depoix
yes you are mate..how many of these free loaders will actually stay and work in sheffield when they get their degrees ?

Sheffield has the highest stay on rate after graduation for any university town/city anywhere in the country. So its quite a lot actually.

Originally posted by Memphis Bell
i would like to know why when i was a student, i was only deducted 25% off my council tax bill?

Students do not count in the estimation of council tax, in order to be totally exempt a property must be a student only household.

The 25% discount is the single person discount, the same discount applies in mixed housing with only one worker. You need to submit details of student status to get the discount so either someone else was in the house or you missed out.

To get a job working in the Town Hall there are three steps to take
1 - Find an incompetent dried pea

2 - Have your brain removed

3 - Have pea inserted

I'm Stockport born and bred and did a 4 year Computing degree at Hallam and finished in may - now got a job at a big IT company in Sheffield and living in Nether Edge - Probably good for the City that i liked it so much hey?

Small, minded morons with chips on their shoulders that are jelous of students/graduates can be found anywhere - some of the people on this thread are just the sheffield contingent!

Originally posted by mjlacey21
Depoix - you have a very dated view of students. In another post you mention grants which have not existed for a long time and now you automatically jump in with the free-loader stereotype. Today's student is lent money to help them through university and while some of it will be used for drinking and clubbing they will be paying interest on that amount. Chances are they will also be using overdrafts, which again will have to be paid off with interest, so at the end the student is the one who suffers for their lifestyle. Most students find it difficult to get into the areas their degree covered upon leaving university and have to work in minimum wage jobs at the same time as being in debt - people who didn't go to university do not have the debt and will be more established in their chosen career. By the way - no I am not a student. are you guaranteed a pass then or is it a gamble if you take out the loans? what happens if you drop out or after passing decide to work abroad ? you may think im out dated but some things never change, the tax payer and council tax payers always seem to lose out,remember the money spent on hyde park flats for the student games? millions, then after they were demolished,what a waste,some one could have used them

you still have to pay back student loans even if you do not pass.

As for the working abroad part it would be a tad extreme to go abroad for the rest of your life just to avoid paying back your loans, When I took my loan out years ago they took bank account numbers / direct debit and parents acted as guarantors and signed to say they would pay if the student refused to do so.

The only exception was if you never worked and reached retirement age before you earned over a certain amount.