assumed change of use re council tax

[hamson]

In a bit of a pickle here. I bought a property 6 years ago - shop on ground floor with offices above. I did contact the planning people to check whether change of use to dwelling would be approved before purchasing ... no problems there since it was originaly a dwelling. I filled out the change of use form, moved into the property and told the planning authority that I was living there and using it as my home. I then recieved two council tax bills. one for shop on ground floor and one for residential premises above - after some enquiries I found out that apparently the previous owner only had change of use from dwelling C3 to A1 granted for the ground floor. This was odd since the bathroom was on the ground floor. Anyway, I was visited by a man from the planning dept. who didn't even come inside the building, and was given a notice to put on display for 21 days. He said it's all to do with paperwork and was very layed back. I then recieved a notice that said 'FULL planning permission GRANTED' and a council tax 'notice of making a new entry in the valuation list' i.e. residential band C and another 'notice of deleted entry' re shop. I assumed from this that my house was approved as C3 status. I'm not so sure now and just to make matters worse, I'm in the process of selling and need an quick sale. Any ideas on what the situation really is please?

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo and welcome hamson
looks to me like purely domestic
i think you need to ask this question from your local council as they will give the correct answer
if your not sure ask for clarification in writing

 

[hamson]

Hi Big - All, and thank you. Yep, I phoned the local authority at 10 to 5 today and they said my property was residential. Then I called my solicitor who said she's just going to send the paperwork to the prospective purchaser's solicitor and if there are no queries from the other side then all well and good. I just don't understand how any authority can be so vague. I mean, if council tax officers and planning reg officers don't pass information back and forth, who gave the o.k. for the residential council tax? Why haven't I been chased and harrassed by the planning dept. for living in a 'shop'? Maybe it's best to just wait for any queries from the other side.