Valuation Officer Visit (Fife)

CraigS · 6 November 2007 at 4:08PM

Hi all, long time reader first time poster.

I had been following the council tax reduction thread for some time, as I was aware I had been paying more than my neighbours.

Most posts in the council tax reduction success thread, seem to indicate that the only contact with the assesor was, only a letter or a phone call.
However tommorow I will recive a visit from the assesor :eek:

All of the houses in my area are the same type/size, a few residents pay band B while the majority pay band A, this being the reason I have challenged my banding.

Does anyone know what questions he will be asking me, or what questions I should be asking him?

Thanks in advance

P.S. thanks for a great site Martin :beer:

jennifernil · 6 November 2007 at 5:49PM

We had the assessor round when we challenged the banding of a flat we bought for our daughter. It was a very nice lady. We had found some flats that we reckoned were bigger but were in a lower band, we gave her details of these. She had found one flat she reckoned showed ours was in the correct band.

We had measured the flat so could ask what sizes she was using....hers were bigger than ours. We also checked that she had the correct plans....she did not, as a bit had been taken out of the flat and into the "common areas" at the request of Building Control.
We then went round the flat and pointed out the small rooms and disadvantages. We also pointed out that the other 3 bed flats in the building were much bigger and had 2 bathrooms, but were in the same band as us.
By this time we were wondering why we had ever bought the flat!!!

She left saying she would discuss things with her superior and get back to us. A few weeks later we got a letter saying the flat would be moved to a lower band.

So have your evidence ready and be persuasive.

CraigS · 6 November 2007 at 6:41PM

Did you measure the interior(rooms) and the exterior (buildings/Gardens)?

I appreciate it would be different being a flat.

Thanks for your help so far :T

jennifernil · 6 November 2007 at 11:22PM

We measured the interior (total size including interior walls), but the assessor goes on the outside dimensions so you need to add on the thickness of all the outside walls.
Garden only makes a difference if it it exceptionally large or exceptionally small.
Good luck! Stay calm and make your point clearly. They are only human!

guppy · 8 November 2007 at 11:11PM

Its external area for a house, the total of both floors added together. Garages aren't included.

For flats, measure the inside exlcuding hallways, bathrooms and airing cupboards etc.

Ultimately its the value someone is prepared to pay for a property of a certain size that is important though.

CraigS · 18 November 2007 at 9:14AM

Well the assessor visited a couple of weeks ago, and he was quite surprised at the amount of information I had gathered as evidence.
This would not have been possible without the help of this site or forum

However the assessor said it would take around three weeks before I received a reply.

They way he explained the procedure, I would not be surprised if I receive a letter explaining I am out with the 6 month window.

However I will just have to challenge that judgement as well

I will keep you posted on my outcome.

Thanks for all the help

guppy · 18 November 2007 at 3:09PM

CraigS wrote: »

They way he explained the procedure, I would not be surprised if I receive a letter explaining I am out with the 6 month window.

However I will just have to challenge that judgement as well

If you are outside the 6 months, don't waste any time or effort arguing about it - its an argument you can't win

It simply means you can't make a formal appeal and that you won't have recourse to an independent committee if things go that far.

But, the assessor still has a duty to ensure the banding is "fair and consistent". So focus the arguing on why you should be in a lower band. Hopefully the assessor will be able to reduce your band through the informal process

Good luck

Valuation Officer Visit (Fife)

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