Setting up bills and council tax

Short answer: no, not if everyone in your flat is a full-time student. Council tax is one of the few bills where being a student works entirely in your favour — full-time students are 100% exempt, for as long as your course runs.

You don’t need to apply for this the way you might expect. There’s no certificate to request from the University. Instead, St Andrews Registry is legally required to send Fife Council an electronic list of all enrolled students each year, including your term-time address and course dates, which the council uses to validate the exemption automatically.

That said, “automatic” doesn’t mean “instant” or “guaranteed to work first time.” You should still confirm your exemption is applied through Fife Council’s Council Tax portal (via mygovscot myaccount) once you’ve moved in, especially if you moved in outside the usual September start, or if this is your first year and the systems haven’t caught up with your enrolment yet.

The exemption runs to the last day of the academic session as published in the University calendar — this typically doesn’t cover graduation week, so don’t be caught out if you’re still in your flat then.

The full exemption only applies if every adult in the property is a full-time student. Bring anyone else into the mix and the rules change:

If you live with exactly one non-student adult — a partner, a friend taking a year out, someone working full-time — and no one else, the household gets a 25% discount rather than a full exemption. The non-student housemate becomes the liable person for what’s left.

If there are two or more non-student adults living with you, there’s no discount at all. The full charge applies, split however your household agrees.

This matters most for couples, house shares with a partner who isn’t enrolled, or flats where one person suspends studies or graduates early while the others carry on. Worth checking before you assume the whole flat is covered — the exemption is based on who’s actually living there, not who’s on the tenancy agreement.

Because the exemption relies on Fife Council matching you against the University’s enrolment list, there’s often a gap between moving in and the exemption actually landing on your account — particularly early in the year, or if you moved in outside the standard September start.

In that gap, Fife Council’s system may still generate a council tax bill addressed to you. It’s easy to assume this is a mistake and bin it, but don’t — an unpaid bill doesn’t check whether you were entitled to be exempt, it just becomes an unpaid bill, and if left long enough it can move to reminder and recovery stages that are a hassle to unwind even once the exemption is confirmed.

If a bill turns up: log into the Council Tax portal via mygovscot myaccount and confirm your student status is registered against the property. If it isn’t showing yet, contact Fife Council directly (0845 155 1155, ask for the Student Council Tax section) rather than waiting for it to sort itself out. Keep any confirmation of your enrolment status (a screenshot of your student record, timetable, or matriculation confirmation) handy in case they ask for evidence.

The exemption is automatic in the vast majority of cases — this section is about the edge cases, not the norm.

Utilities aren’t handled for you the way council tax is. From the day your tenancy starts, you’re responsible for what’s used at the property, regardless of who was there before you or whether anyone’s told the supplier you’ve moved in.

Take meter readings for gas and electricity on the day you get the keys — photograph them. This is the single easiest way to avoid being billed for a previous tenant’s usage, or disputing a bill months later with no evidence either way.

Then register with the supplier as soon as possible. Most St Andrews lets already have an existing gas and electricity supplier in place; you don’t have to switch (you can if you want) but you do need to put the account into your names. Make sure everyone in the flat who’s meant to be financially responsible is actually named on the account, not just one person — if only one name is on it, that person is the one a supplier will chase if a bill goes unpaid, whatever your informal arrangement with your flatmates.

This one splits opinion in many student flats, and the answer depends on how your tenancy is structured rather than on being a student.

If your household has a single joint tenancy agreement — one contract, everyone named on it — you only need one TV licence between you, and can split the cost like any other bill. This covers the whole property.

If, alternatively, each of you signed a separate, individual tenancy agreement for your own room (more common in HMO-style lets with individually let bedrooms), each person technically needs their own licence, since each agreement is treated as its own household for this purpose.

You need a licence only if you watch or record live TV on any channel, or watch or download anything on BBC iPlayer, on any device — a laptop, TV, phone, or games console all count equally. If your flat only uses services like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ or YouTube, and never live TV or iPlayer, you don’t need one.

It’s currently £180 a year, payable annually, quarterly or by monthly direct debit, with no student discount. Watching without one when you’re required to have one carries a real fine risk — TV Licensing does check student addresses.

Even once everyone’s named on the accounts, someone still has to actually pay the bills each month — and this is where flat finances can break down, not at the setup stage.

Splitting bills apps (Splitwise, Monzo pots shared between flatmates, or similar) work as a light-touch alternative if a joint account feels like overkill, but they rely on people actually logging what they owe.

Whatever method you use, agree it in the first week, not after the first bill arrives. The most common flatmate friction isn’t about the amount owed, it’s about one person feeling like they’re the only one chasing everyone else for it.