It could see vehicle dwellers facing tax bills
A meanwhile site in Lockleaze(Image: Bristol Live)
Uncertainty reigns two months after Bristol City Council started imposing council tax on residents of its so-called meanwhile sites.
The authority started collecting the charge from people living in vehicles on sites under its management from April 1, having previously exercised its discretion to not try to.
But as of June 9 there is still no decision on whether the sites are even eligible for council tax in the first place. That decision is made by the Valuation Office Agency, which is part of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and evaluates properties around the country to determine which council tax bracket they should fall into.
A HMRC spokesperson said the VOA did not have an update on when a decision would be made on Bristol’s meanwhile sites. Bristol Live understands the process has been held up partly because of the time it took for the council to provide the VOA with sufficient information to make its assessment.
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said the VOA was now in possession of all the information it needed and declined to comment further. They said there had been ongoing dialogue between BCC and the VOA concerning council tax on the sites but did not confirm when the government agency had received the final pieces of information it required in order to make a decision.
The council does not need to wait for the VOA decision before it can ask people to pay council tax, but it will have to refund everybody who has paid tax in relation to the sites in the VOA eventually decides they are not eligible.
In Bristol, a Band A Council Tax property (valued up to and including £40,000 as of April 1991) incurs an annual charge of £1,809.12 for the 2026/2027 financial year.
A large new meanwhile site is due to open in Whitchurch which will bring the number of available pitches in Bristol to 158. Once that opens, BCC would be able to recoup £280,841 annually in council tax from site occupants.
Some people living on the sites have previously told Bristol Live the imposition of council tax would force them back to the kerb.
Meanwhile sites are a cornerstone of the council’s new ‘vehicle dweller policy’, which aims to reduce the number of people in Bristol living kerbside in vehicles. They are essentially caravan parks run by BCC on undeveloped land.
The sites offer very basic facilities such as toilets and fresh water. Occupants do not have access to electricity and cannot use their pitch on a meanwhile site as a postal address.
BCC originally aimed to have 250 pitches available on sites across Bristol by the end of the 2025/26 financial year, a target which was subsequently slashed to having 150 spots available by this summer.
The VOA is dealing with a severe backlog of cases, so it could be months before a decision on the sites’ eligibility for council tax is reached..
The uncertainty may not even stop then. If the VOA decides meanwhile sites are eligible for council tax, occupants of the sites will be able to appeal against that decision.