NPPR charge and household charge – charges on property
Any unpaid household charge or NPPR charge is a charge on property for a period of 12 years from the due date for payment of the charge. If a residential property is sold, the vendor is liable to pay all outstanding charges, late payment fees and interest due before completion of the sale. ‘Vendor’ is defined to include a solicitor as agent of the owner who receives the proceeds of sale or provides legal advice to the owner. A ‘sale’ includes a CPO or gift. Therefore, despite the current abolition of the household charge and the upcoming abolition of the NPPR charge, vendors and their solicitors will still have to deal with both of these charges for a period of 12 years from the last due date.
Under the legislation, a vendor is obliged to give to the purchaser either a certificate of discharge, a certificate of exemption, or a certificate of waiver in respect of the household charge, and either a certificate of discharge or a certificate of exemption in respect of the NPPR charge. An up-to-date receipt or a declaration made by the vendor is not sufficient.
Practitioners are referred to the practice note dated 5 April 2012 (April Gazette, p53), setting out the procedure to apply for the relevant certificates regarding the household charge. Applications for certificates in relation to the NPPR charge should be made to the NPPR section of the relevant local authority.