In the common situation of a house in MULTIPLE OCCUPATION where each of the bedrooms is ( 1 ) lockable and ( 2 ) EXCLUSIVELY OCCUPIED by a separate tenant, who shares the common parts, STANUSZEK v BUNYAN ( Listing Officer ) ( No 2 ) ( 2025 ) EWHC 255 ( Admin ) holds that each falls to be assessed for council tax purposes under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as a SEPARATE DWELLING/hereditament. It is irrelevant that the tenants share the common areas of the house, which include a kitchen and a living room. A single hereditament cannot contain discrete parts occupied by different persons. “ Occupation “ of a space in rating law as defined by the Court of Appeal in JS LAING v KINGSWOOD ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE requires exclusive possession of that space. Applying the geographical WOOLWAY v MAZARS Supreme Court test on the identification of an hereditament each bedroom in the HMO was “ capable “ of being a separate and discrete hereditament, AND it was separately occupied.

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