Hello everyone, a bit of context on the above, I’m currently renting a room in a 7 bedroom HMO. My rent includes the council tax along with all my other bills as per the signed contract. Some time ago we received letters from the council saying that they have registered us as the occupiers in each of our respective rooms and accordingly now the council tax is in our each individual names.

This was back in November, at which point I contacted the letting agent who informed me that that’s the normal procedure and that this has been the case for all the other HMOs that he’s managing. It seemed a bit off for me as I have lived in a HMO before and the council tax was in the name of the landlord and we never received anything in that regards.

In December we received the actual council tax bill which had the date for the payment being the 3rd of January, and I also sent it to the letting agent who said that he will take care of it. Skipping through to now, we received reminders that we must make a payment within the next 21 days before the council escalates it. Once again, been in touch with my estate agent who confirmed, in writing, that the bills have been paid and it’s an admin error from the council that got us the letters.

I contacted the council via email who for some reason said that they cannot confirm. Even though the bill is in my name. However, they put my account on hold for a month to give me extra time to sort it out, which implies that the payment has not been made. Now, I am not too sure what my options are in case the estate agent fails to supply me with a confirmation of payment. I’m also trying to resolve this amicably as I am trying to renew my tenancy, which obviously if the landlord fails to pay the tax I won’t be.

So my question is, what are my options and if anyone had any experiences similar to this, what did you do?

Any input is appreciated and I thank you for taking the time to read this.

Edit: I’m in England.