Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

hethmar

My very elderly aunt bought her semi detached 2 bed bungalow in Somerset in the 80s. It was brand new and she was banded C. Shortly after she found similar props banded B and did ring the council to ask about this but was fobbed off. She tried again to appeal a few years back and again was told she had no grounds.

Since Martin began this campaign, she mentioned these previous failures to me and Ive tried to sort it out for her. Ive been on the VOA and found that the majority of bungalows around her, the same size or bigger are band B but hers is shown as C. I listed a dozen of these in my online appeal for her but she got a standard, "no grounds" letter and she has appealed against that decision. They are saying she will have to attend a tribunal which has worried her as she can hardly walk. Ive told her thats nonsense and I will write and get them to send a valuation officer to her home.

Ive collected data re recent prices of the bungalows sold around her and Ive also got the price she paid when the bung was new and by using the Nationwide site this all confirms that her house was wrongly banded in the first place.

But my question is, HOW when the properties around her are so clearly a band lower - can they reject the query three times? She is now beginning to fret about all the complicated paperwork she may get and although I live 300 miles away - Im blowed if Im going to let the council get away with conning her.

What is the likelihood of my appeal being successful in the above circs and anyone got any advice on how to progress please.

jamesiebabie

lisajh29 wrote: »

I followed the steps and found that my house is in the correct band for its value. Our houses were ex MOD properties so were only valued for council tax in 1999 when they were sold on. However, the house opposite me which is exactly the same is a band lower and another house in my street which has 1 more bedroom is a band lower too. Is this an argument to lower my band? I don't want to stitch up my neighbours!!!

Thanks

lisajh29,

These are very good grounds for requesting a band review as comparables are the strongest evidence, excluding a sale on or around the 1/4/1993 value. I would strongly recommend that you request a band review if you are out of the 6 monthjs time limit for appealing. Just phone up the VOA and request to speak to the Council Tax team and state your case. Make sure you get their name and nuber and ask for them to confirm everything in writing. If you have any fuether problems post them on here and someone will try and help.

jamesiebabie

tracey001 wrote: »

Hi

I have just checked and i am one of 3 identical houses, 2 of us in band D, the other in band C. Have spoken with local council office for Great Yarmouth,which is in Ipswich. I was asked by a very unheplful lady why did i think i should be rebanded, explained the above and was then told well if you want to appeal you can but unlikely to get it , almost nobody does, then told me it would be 2 months before i hear anything.

Anybody else had the same problem?

Tracey

Tracey,

I hope it was the VOA that you approached and not the council, as it is only the VOA who can do anything.

What you need to do is the same as I quoted for lisa, in the above post. I hope this helps.

jamesiebabie

hethmar wrote: »

My very elderly aunt bought her semi detached 2 bed bungalow in Somerset in the 80s. It was brand new and she was banded C. Shortly after she found similar props banded B and did ring the council to ask about this but was fobbed off. She tried again to appeal a few years back and again was told she had no grounds.

Since Martin began this campaign, she mentioned these previous failures to me and Ive tried to sort it out for her. Ive been on the VOA and found that the majority of bungalows around her, the same size or bigger are band B but hers is shown as C. I listed a dozen of these in my online appeal for her but she got a standard, "no grounds" letter and she has appealed against that decision. They are saying she will have to attend a tribunal which has worried her as she can hardly walk. Ive told her thats nonsense and I will write and get them to send a valuation officer to her home.

Ive collected data re recent prices of the bungalows sold around her and Ive also got the price she paid when the bung was new and by using the Nationwide site this all confirms that her house was wrongly banded in the first place.

But my question is, HOW when the properties around her are so clearly a band lower - can they reject the query three times? She is now beginning to fret about all the complicated paperwork she may get and although I live 300 miles away - Im blowed if Im going to let the council get away with conning her.

What is the likelihood of my appeal being successful in the above circs and anyone got any advice on how to progress please.

hethmar,

Back to basics, your aunt will have only been able to make a valid appeal within the first 6 months of the List and subsequently the VOA can quite easily defend the appeal, HOWEVER, if you ask for a band review under the council tax charter, then the VOA will have to action it. In this case, it sounds as though you have done all the hardwork already and just provide this info to the VOA in an easy format and I would like to think that the process should get past the first hurdle.

When it cam to your aunt's original appeal, it would have failed at the first hurdle due to the time limits imposed on the VOA and therefore would never have been reviewed.

I hope this makes things clearer. If you fail on this attempt, come back to me.

BANNEDfromTV

BANNEDfromTV wrote: »

OK here goes.
I followed the steps outlined on this website to calculate whether my property is in the correct band.

According to the calculator and the current banding system my property should be in a band c (currently in band D).
Now I have no way of finding out what my neighbours council tax band is as there is only 1 property similar to mine (although they extended it some time ago) and we're exactly on speaking terms with the owner (it's a whole parking over our drive issue... we'll not go there.

Anyway so without being able to see if they are in the same band does the calculator hold any weight? We have lived here since 2004.
Also if I ask for a reband is there a chance they could up my banding another notch or place me in my current market value band or does it not work like that?

I don't council tax payments as it is because I don't think we get value for money, so I would love to get some cash back on our banding if possible.
What is the likelihood that I would get re-branded and what is the chance my band would go higher?

Any advice you guys could give me would be beneficial thanks.

Following on from this thread, I have since checked my neighbours band using this site: http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/cti_home.htm

My neighbours mentioned above (who have an extension on the side of their property) are in Band E (one band higher than us), their neighbour in a similar property are Band D (same as ours) but again they have a 4 bed house and ours is 3. Across the road they're a Band D also.

This leads me to believe my rebanding efforts to get my property into the band C category may be fruitless. Even though the calculator indicates my property would have been in the band C level in Q2 of 1991.

Any advice?

binkle

Hi Doc

We had the same thing - lived in the property for years, and discovered the neighbours indentical houses on a lower band. We ignored the 6 month rule. They came round for an inspection and after chasing got a chq for £700 and a years free from council tax. I'm sure that I have heard of other people succeeding after this length of time too. Perhaps you should try researching case law to back up your case - worth a go on google at least. Good luck

DocWatson wrote: »

Hi,

I have done all my research and produced a very good arguement why my property was wrongly banded and why it should be in band E and not F and I have got and reply from the VOA in the form of a "NOTICE OF INVALID PROPOSAL" giving the reason that "you have been occupying the property for more than six months".

This seems ridiculous and I moved to the property in 1994 but how should I answer this?

melvin_2

Hi all, this is my first posting so hope someone can help. I have just followed all the steps set out from martins link but our house was'nt built until 1995. Do i put this into the calculator or 1991. Just a little confused.

grace21

This is my first attempt to get some help, can anyone advise me I have followed the steps to reduce the banding as suggested in Martin's money saving tips and have been successful in reducing the banding from F to E but although the alteration notice was back dated to 1993 my council will only back date it for 5 years.Could I pursue the rest of the money!!!

guppy

melvin wrote: »

Hi all, this is my first posting so hope someone can help. I have just followed all the steps set out from martins link but our house was'nt built until 1995. Do i put this into the calculator or 1991. Just a little confused.

Put in the price you paid in 1995 and use the calculator to take it back to 1991. It may well have been worth more then due to the recession though.

The closer to 1991 the sale is, the more useful.

guppy

grace21 wrote: »

This is my first attempt to get some help, can anyone advise me I have followed the steps to reduce the banding as suggested in Martin's money saving tips and have been successful in reducing the banding from F to E but although the alteration notice was back dated to 1993 my council will only back date it for 5 years.Could I pursue the rest of the money!!!

That sounds outrageous! And out of line with most other councils based on others' experiences on here. If the council dig their heels in I'd write to your local councillor asking him to investigate and demanding the money back - it was your money taken incorrectly in the first place! The council might blank you but your councillor has a duty to represent you.