KATHERINE Ryan has revealed she’s been hounded by bailiffs and treated like a tax dodger after council blunder saw her wrongly held responsible for £10,000 in unpaid bills.
says she was footing the council tax bill for her tenants at a London flat she owns with husband Bobby ever since they rented it out in October 2023.
She paid the charge voluntarily – as a gesture of goodwill – to make things easier for her renters in the gothic church conversion in Crouch End.
But she was shocked to then discover that Haringey Council believed she still lived there, classed the property as a second home, and hiked her council tax by 200%.
When payments didn’t match the inflated charge, they sent bailiffs to her house.
Speaking on her podcast Telling Everybody Everything, Katherine said she sent them the tenancy agreement as proof that it wasn’t her second home, and explained: “We pay the council tax because we want to make it seamless for everyone, but we don’t live there.”;
“I never got a reply. I emailed four times,”; she added.
“I called and was on hold for 40 minutes – then they just sent me back to the switchboard.”;
Katherine, who is was forced to take matters into her own hands last week and travelled to the council’s Wood Green office herself.
“I finally spoke to a woman who said, ‘Oh yeah, we didn’t receive any of your letters.’”;
She was then told that, legally, landlords aren’t responsible for council tax if the property is tenanted – unless it’s classed as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
Because the tenancy agreement hadn’t been logged, the council wrongly billed her and added the second-home premium.
“She goes, ‘We can’t go after you for council tax because you don’t live there.’ And I was like, ‘Well, apparently you can – I’ve paid you ten grand and you’ve sent bailiffs to my house. Twice.’”;
Katherine was told she could apply for a refund but that the council would now send her tenants a backdated bill for the entire period.
“I was like, ‘What!? You’re going to send my tenants a bill for ten grand dating back two years?’ She’s like, ‘Yep... Sometimes this causes problems – tell them not to freak out.’”;
She asked if the credit could be transferred but was told the tenants were “just going to get a big bill.”;
“Luckily, I’m in contact with the tenants,”; she said. “They trust me... But the bureaucracy! What if English wasn’t my first language?
“Navigating all of this, there’s got to be a better way.”;
