The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026

Welsh Statutory Instruments

2026 No. 88

COUNCIL TAX, WALES

The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026

Made

20 March 2026

Coming into force

3 June 2026

The Welsh Ministers make these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on the Secretary of State by sections 3(5), 8(1), and 113(1) and (2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992(1) and now vested in them(2), and in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 255(1)(a) of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016(3).

Title and coming into force

1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 3 June 2026.

Amendments to the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992

2.—(1) The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992(4) is amended as follows.

(2) In article 2—

(a) for the definition of “HMO” substitute—

““HMO”—

(a)

in relation to England means a building or part of a building which is a “house in multiple occupation” as defined by section 254 of the Housing Act 2004(5) but as if subsections (1)(e) and (5) of that section were omitted;

(b)

in relation to Wales means a building or part of a building which is a “house in multiple occupation” as defined by section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 but—

(i)

as if subsections (1)(e) and (5) of that section were omitted, and

(ii)

in applying the test for when persons are to be treated as occupying a building or part of a building as their only or main residence under section 254(2)(c) of the Housing Act 2004, as if section 259(2)(b) of that Act were omitted;”;

(b) for the definition of “refuge” substitute—

““refuge” means a building in Wales that is a Class Y dwelling under regulation 29 of the Council Tax (Discounts, Disregards and Exemptions) (Wales) Regulations 2026(6).”

(3) For article 3 substitute—

“3.   Subject to articles 3A and 3C, where a single property in England contains more than one self contained unit, for the purposes of Part I of the Act, the property shall be treated as comprising as many dwellings as there are such units included in it and each such unit shall be treated as a dwelling.

3ZA.— (1) Where a single property in Wales contains more than one self-contained unit, the property must, for the purposes of Part I of the Act, be treated as comprising as many dwellings as there are such units included in it and each such unit must be treated as a dwelling.

(2) But this article does not apply to a dwelling which falls within articles 3A, 3B or 3C.”

(4) In article 3B, after “A refuge” insert “in Wales”.

(5) For article 3C substitute—

“3C.   For the purposes of Part 1 of the Act, an HMO in England or Wales must be treated as a single dwelling.”

(6) For article 4 substitute—

“4.— (1) Subject to article 3C, where a multiple property in England—

(a) consists of a single self contained unit, or such a unit together with or containing premises constructed or adapted for non-domestic purposes; and

(b) is occupied as more than one unit of separate living accommodation,

the listing officer may, if he thinks fit, subject to paragraph (2) below, treat the property as one dwelling.

(2) In exercising his discretion in paragraph (1) above, the listing officer shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the extent, if any, to which the parts of the property separately occupied have been structurally altered.

5.— (1) The listing officer may, if they think fit, treat a multiple property in Wales as one dwelling where it—

(a) consists of a single self-contained unit, or such a unit together with or containing premises constructed or adapted for non-domestic purposes, and

(b) is occupied as more than one unit of separate living accommodation.

(2) In exercising their discretion in paragraph (1), the listing officer must have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the extent, if any, to which the parts of the property separately occupied have been structurally altered.

(3) But the discretion in paragraph (2) does not apply to a dwelling which falls within article 3B or 3C.”

Amendments to the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992

3.—(1) The Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992(7) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 1(2)—

(a) for the definition of “HMO” substitute—

““HMO”—

(a)

in relation to England means a building or part of a building which is a “house in multiple occupation” as defined by section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 but as if subsections (1)(e) and (5) of that section were omitted;

(b)

in relation to Wales means a building or part of a building which is a “house in multiple occupation” as defined by section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 but—

(i)

as if subsections (1)(e) and (5) of that section were omitted, and

(ii)

in applying the test for when persons are to be treated as occupying a building or part of a building as their only or main residence under section 254(2)(c) of the Housing Act 2004, as if section 259(2)(b) of that Act were omitted;”;

(b) after the definition of “HMO” insert—

““introductory standard contract” has the meaning given in section 16(4) of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016(8);”;

(c) after the definition of “introductory tenant” insert—

““secure contract” has the meaning given in section 8 of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016;”;

(d) in the definition of “tenant”, after “includes” insert “a tenant under an introductory standard contract or secure contract,”.

(3) In regulation 2—

(a) in Class A (residential care homes), in paragraph (c), after “paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to the Act” insert “in relation to England or by regulation 17(2) of the Council Tax (Discounts, Disregards and Exemptions) (Wales) Regulations 2026 in relation to Wales”;

(b) in Class B (religious communities), after “a dwelling” insert “in England or Wales”;

(c) for Class C (houses in multiple occupation, etc) substitute—

“Houses in multiple occupation, etc

Class C	a dwelling in England or Wales which—
	(a) was originally constructed or subsequently adapted for occupation by persons who do not constitute a single household,
	(b) is inhabited by a person who, or by two or more persons each of whom either—
	(i) is a tenant of, or has a licence to occupy, part only of the dwelling, or
	(ii) has a licence to occupy, but is not liable (whether alone or jointly with other persons) to pay rent or a licence fee in respect of, the dwelling as a whole, or
	(c) is an HMO.”

(d) after Class F (asylum seekers) insert—

“Refuge

Class G

a building in Wales that is a Class Y dwelling under regulation 29 of the Council Tax (Discounts, Disregards and Exemptions) (Wales) Regulations 2026.”

Mark Drakeford

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language, one of the Welsh Ministers

20 March 2026

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order 1992 (“the 1992 Order”) and the Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992 (“the 1992 Regulations”).

Regulation 2 amends the definition of a house in multiple occupation (“HMO”) in article 2 of the 1992 Order and the provision in article 3C of that Order to provide that an HMO in Wales is to be treated as a single dwelling for the purposes of council tax.

Regulation 2 also amends the 1992 Order by aligning the definition of “refuge” (which is to be treated as a single dwelling for the purposes of council tax) to that contained in regulation 29 of the Council Tax (Discounts, Disregards and Exemptions) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (“the 2026 Regulations”). A new article 5 is inserted in relation to Wales to provide that the listing officer’s discretion, in certain circumstances, to treat a multiple property as one dwelling, does not apply in relation to HMOs and refuges. As a result, the existing article 4 is amended to apply in relation to England only.

Regulation 3 amends the 1992 Regulations to include HMOs in Wales as a prescribed class of dwelling for which the owner, as opposed to the resident, is liable for council tax. The amendment aligns this prescribed class with the 1992 Order.

Regulation 3 also provides definitions for tenancies relevant to the 1992 Regulations which now apply in relation to Wales in consequence of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 and the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022.

The 1992 Regulations are also amended to make reference to the meaning of “hostel” given by regulation 17(2) of the 2026 Regulations and to specify that in the case of refuges (as defined by reference to the definition contained in the 2026 Regulations), the person liable for the council tax is the owner rather than the occupier.

These Regulations also amend the 1992 Order and the 1992 Regulations to clarify the territorial application of certain provisions within those instruments.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from Local Government Finance Reform, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ and is published on www.gov.wales.

(1)

1992 c. 14. The power to make an order under section 3(5)(b) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (“the 1992 Act”) may be exercised to make regulations by virtue of section 39(1) of the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 (anaw 4). See section 116(1) of the 1992 Act for the definition of “prescribed”. Section 113(1) and (2) was amended by paragraph 52 of Schedule 7 to the Local Government Act 2003 (c. 26) and section 80(4) of the Localism Act 2011 (c. 20). Section 113(2) of the 1992 Act was also amended by S.I. 2021/1265 and 2013/2597. There are other amendments not relevant to this instrument.

(2)

The powers of the Secretary of State were transferred, in relation to Wales, to the National Assembly for Wales by virtue of article 2(1) of, and Schedule 1 to, the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672). They were subsequently transferred to the Welsh Ministers by virtue of section 162 of, and paragraph 30 of Schedule 11 to, the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32).

(3)

2016 anaw 1. Section 255(2) was amended by section 14 of, and paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to, the Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Act 2021 (asc 3).

(4)

S.I. 1992/549; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1997/656, 2004/2921 (W. 260), 2012/1915, 2014/2653 (W. 261), 2018/48 (W. 15) and 2023/1175.

(5)

2004 c. 34.

(6)

W.S.I. 2026/8.

(7)

S.I. 1992/551; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1993/151, 1995/620, 2000/1024 (W. 60) and 2023/1175.

(8)

2016 anaw 1.