My council tax band investigation

want2bmortgage3

Just decided to look into this. My property is a 2 -bed maisonette. Its currently in band C which is about £1300 a year (minus single person discount).

Looking on the VOA I see a property which I'm sure is the same size / layout as mine in band B. However there is only this one out of about 30 which are also in band C like mine.

Doing the second check based on the recent sale of a neighbours property, then my 1991 valuation is definitely in band B.

I am going to call my local VOA tomorrow and ask them for a review. I dont see why number 79 should be in a lower band when it looks exactly the same. I checked for more details on the history and it was rebanded in 1993, with no court code.

Will update when I call tomorrow, if anyone has any advice please post!

lincroft1710

Sounds like 79 reduced but others weren't, although there is a possibility there may be some difference/disability which would warrant B rather than C.

want2bmortgage3

I phoned them but was told to either write or email, so have just emailed them a minute ago.

Based on a recent sale of number 70 which is a few doors along, and exactly like mine if not better, the nationwide calculator said this:

A property located in Outer South East which was valued at £130000 in Q2 of 2009, would be worth approximately £46010 in Q2 of 1991.

So thats further evidence I may be in the wrong band... I hope anyway

lincroft1710

Exactly what area does "Outer South East" cover? This was the problem I (and colleagues) found when working in VOA. We would look at actual sale prices of same property on different dates (VOA has details of virtually all UK property sales) and then put one of sales into Nationwide or Halifax calculator to see how it compared with an actual sale price.

The results were always inaccurate as they were lumping properties as far apart as Brighton and St Albans together to obtain their figures.

vivatifosi

lincroft1710 wrote: »

The results were always inaccurate as they were lumping properties as far apart as Brighton and St Albans together to obtain their figures.

Its also a problem in terms of the South East because the definition of the South East in the eyes of the government has changed since 1991. For example, in 1991, St Albans was part of the South East, now Hertfordshire is part of the Eastern Region. So even taking something as large and vague as the South East, you're still not able to compare like with like.

OP, can you get evidence from local papers from the time? That will stand you in much better stead.

want2bmortgage3

any ideas where to find papers from 1991 to see the prices then???

vivatifosi

You can often get newspapers from either the local our county library. If not available, ask the local newspaper if they have an archive that is available to the public. Failing that, you may be able to get them from the British Library, which can be expensive.

Houses sold on or around the 1st April 1991would have been on the market towards the end of 1990 or in the first quarter of 1991, so look for homes from then.

lincroft1710

now Hertfordshire is part of the Eastern Region.

That's even worse, putting Herts in with Norfolk.

want2 - also look at other 2 bed flats/msnettes in area, are they in B or C? The more evidence you can get to support your claim, the more seriously it will be looked at.

want2bmortgage3

Well this is becoming more interesting.....

My last property was only a few minutes drive away and was also a 2 bedroom maisonette. It had bigger rooms my new place and also had a garage, off road parking, and a bigger garden.

I just searched the VOA and found my old place was band B. This is interesting because I sold it for £150k the same day I bought my new property for £140k which is a band C.

Now surely that will help my claim quite a lot???

lincroft1710

Just as a matter of interest could you please do the Nwide calc on sale price of your old place and see what that gives 91 value as.

want2bmortgage3

Sure, and thanks for your interest..

My old property (band sold for 150k july 2006 - i assume the Q number is what quarter of the year? for some reason it says its outer metropolitan even though its only a couple of miles from my current place

Results:-
A property located in Outer Metropolitan which was valued at £150000 in Q3 of 2006, would be worth approximately £51404 in Q2 of 1991.
This is equivalent to a change of -65.73%.

And the purchase of my current property (band C) again july 2006 for 140k:

Results:-
A property located in Outer South East which was valued at £140000 in Q3 of 2006, would be worth approximately £46001 in Q2 of 1991.
This is equivalent to a change of -67.14%.