Council Tax for newly built properties
Information on completion notices for newly built or converted properties, and what to do if you disagree with a notice.
Completion notices
If you own a newly built or converted property, we'll send you a completion notice when the property is complete.
You may get your completion notice up to 3 months in advance.
For Council Tax purposes, complete means your property is ready to live in. This also applies up to 3 months in advance, even if no one lives in the property yet.
The notice shows the date you'll have to start paying Council Tax for your completed property.
A copy is also sent to the Valuation Office Agency, so they can add your property to the Council Tax valuation list.
Your property can be added to the list even if you haven't had work approved by our Building Control team.
Completion dates
For Council Tax, we normally consider your property complete when the major parts of the building are finished, such as:
- walls, roofing and floors
- doors, windows and staircases
- drainage and cable networks
We'll still consider your property complete even if you haven't fitted your kitchen or bathroom, or connected your gas and electricity.
Ask about your notice
If you have a question about your completion notice, or disagree with it, contact us.
If you'd like to challenge your notice, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
You can only make an appeal within the time limit shown on your completion notice.