(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order specifies cases of lands and heritages which would (apart from the Order) be two or more dwellings for the purposes of the council tax. From the date of coming in to force of the Order, these shall be treated as one dwelling. The Order also further amends the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) (Scotland) Order 1997 (“the 1997 Order”). Schedule 1 to that Order prescribes those classes of dwellings which are exempt dwellings for the purposes of section 72(6) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. This exempts those classes from the council tax.
Article 2 defines the cases of lands and heritages to be treated as one dwelling. These are lands and heritages in which a prescribed housing support service (as prescribed by regulations by the Scottish Ministers) is provided to tenants or licensees who occupy part or parts of the lands and heritages, and in which some shared facilities are used.
The prescribed housing support services, or types of services, are prescribed at the date of making this Order under section 91(8) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Housing Support Services) Regulations 2002 (S.S.I. 2002/444).
Article 3 adds the further class of exempt dwellings to Schedule 1 to the 1997 Order. This class is for the dwellings that are each treated as one dwelling by Article 2.
Article 4 makes a consequential amendment to regulation 9(4)(b) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 1992. This adds the new class of exempt dwellings to the classes in respect of which the levying authority do not require to issue a notice that they have made an assumption that the dwelling will be or was an exempt dwelling.