The Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2026 / Rheoliadau’r Dreth Gyngor (Anheddau Trethadwy ac Atebolrwydd Perchnogion) (Diwygio) (Cymru) 2026

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

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 .