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

Dribble_2

mariecc wrote: »

thanks Guppy and Maisie

I re did the m/wide keyed in my house as bought in 1994 and the Q1 1991 only problem is my house came out at £10,000 more in 1991.

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Similar problem with my 1997 built house....but try the 'Projectanalyser' site for a more accurate 'postcode' calculation based on land registry sales not mortgages etc.

Maisie

Dribble wrote: »

Seems quite a problem obtaining 1991 sales figures for many people. In my case I may have been lucky but I simply strolled into a Chartered Surveyors office and explained my situation. He supplied me with addresses of a number of 'actual' sales for that year within minutes.
Really solid evidence,unlike 'asking prices' from newspaper ads etc.....

Thanks Dribble that's very interesting about Chartered Surveyors.

Any Chartered Surveyors on MSE willing to help through this thread?

Another avenue to explore in this slog to get correctly rebanded.

Maisie

Maisie

Dribble wrote: »

mariecc wrote: »

thanks Guppy and Maisie

I re did the m/wide keyed in my house as bought in 1994 and the Q1 1991 only problem is my house came out at £10,000 more in 1991.

---

Similar problem with my 1197 built house....but try the 'Projectanalyser' site for a more accurate 'postcode' calculation based on land registry sales not mortgages etc.

'Projectanalyser' is mentioned back on this thread. A lot of information on that site.

Maisie

fliodhasfaerie

Hello,

I hope this is the right thread to be on?

My parents bought their house from the council in 1993. They have always been placed in Band C.
Recently,due to the publicity Council Banding has received,they are pretty sure they should have been placed in Band B.

The house when they bought it had the council value of £51,000 and for being tenants they were discounted £23,500 making the total they actually bought it for £27,500.

From the Council Banding literature that should have placed them in Band B.

They have queried this with the council and have received the reply that Band C is the correct band - all the houses in the street,whether they be detached,semi-detached,any number of bedrooms etc are Band C and they calculated the Banding on future property values,no rights to appeal etc.

However there is no getting away from the fact that it was bought at £51,000 !!1993} from the council????

Where do they go from here? Is there a next step? Is it even worth it?

I'm not having much luck finding any info on my thread and any and all advice would be very welcome please.

Thank you :0)

Boonbetty

VOA say they are using evidence of actual sales figures to band my house. I have asked them to supply this evidence under the Freedom of Information Act, but they have refused to do so as it is based on stamp duty paid by other people, in other words taxation, and therefore classed as confidential.

I have been to the library and consulted the archives of the local paper with no luck - there are only eight eot houses on this estate and I cannot recall any of them being sold in 1991. In the whole village I believe there are only ten eot houses of similar age and size, so it quite unlikely that I will find any actual sales. I am therefore very interested to see what actual sales VOA can be using.


Does anyone have any ideas?

guppy

fliodhasfaerie wrote: »

Hello,

I hope this is the right thread to be on?

My parents bought their house from the council in 1993. They have always been placed in Band C.
Recently,due to the publicity Council Banding has received,they are pretty sure they should have been placed in Band B.

The house when they bought it had the council value of £51,000 and for being tenants they were discounted £23,500 making the total they actually bought it for £27,500.

From the Council Banding literature that should have placed them in Band B.

They have queried this with the council and have received the reply that Band C is the correct band - all the houses in the street,whether they be detached,semi-detached,any number of bedrooms etc are Band C and they calculated the Banding on future property values,no rights to appeal etc.

However there is no getting away from the fact that it was bought at £51,000 !!1993} from the council????

Where do they go from here? Is there a next step? Is it even worth it?

I'm not having much luck finding any info on my thread and any and all advice would be very welcome please.

Thank you :0)

Hello,

Unfortunately there was a house price crash between 1989-1994. So 1993 is likely to be cheaper than 1991. You can use the Nationwide Calculator to check your region.

Dribble_2

mcguire6078 wrote: »

I am in a similar situation. I live in a row of terraced houses 70 are in band C and 6 of us (mid terrace) are in band D. If you have received a similar letter to mine, it may have a paragrapgh about similar style properties with different banding. The reason stated was the total area of living accomodation was greater than other properties in the street....what nonsense,

I phoned them back today and they are sending someone to inspect my property.

I have also requested that they supply information about the size of all other properties in my street, given that this is the reason stated for the difference in banding/valuation.

This 'size' and 'living area' is debatable. The assessments are based on 'values' at April 1991. I believe the old 'rating' system was based on 'size'.
It's a technicality that could be being used to wear you down but is not valid.
I'm debating it with 'em myself as their statements clash with local prices and bandings.
Ain't life complicated ?

guppy

Boonbetty wrote: »

VOA say they are using evidence of actual sales figures to band my house. I have asked them to supply this evidence under the Freedom of Information Act, but they have refused to do so as it is based on stamp duty paid by other people, in other words taxation, and therefore classed as confidential.

I have been to the library and consulted the archives of the local paper with no luck - there are only eight eot houses on this estate and I cannot recall any of them being sold in 1991. In the whole village I believe there are only ten eot houses of similar age and size, so it quite unlikely that I will find any actual sales. I am therefore very interested to see what actual sales VOA can be using.


Does anyone have any ideas?

Hello,

They might not be able to give you exact addresses and dates of sales in writing but you can still phone up and ask them to explain their evidence and how they've come to a decision.

i.e. Ask which streets their comparable sales are in and approximately how much they were selling for etc. Then you can see if they are using sales in a road far posher than your's etc.

If there are inconsistencies in bandings on the estate ask them to explain these too. Are identical houses in different bands?

Basically, if you think there is a genuine case to answer, don't be fobbed off. Sales of specific houses might be confidential, but you have every right to a reasonable explanation of why they believe your band is correct.

Phoning may be better since you can essentially cross-examine the person dealing with your case. If they say something you know to be wrong you can query it there and then. Its a lot easier for them to send out a boilerplate letter than it is to justify their thinking to someone with an opposing view over the phone. Worst case scenario is they convince you that your band is correct.

Good luck.

Boonbetty

guppy wrote: »

Hello,

They might not be able to give you exact addresses and dates of sales in writing but you can still phone up and ask them to explain their evidence and how they've come to a decision.

i.e. Ask which streets their comparable sales are in and approximately how much they were selling for etc. Then you can see if they are using sales in a road far posher than your's etc.

If there are inconsistencies in bandings on the estate ask them to explain these too. Are identical houses in different bands?

Basically, if you think there is a genuine case to answer, don't be fobbed off. Sales of specific houses might be confidential, but you have every right to a reasonable explanation of why they believe your band is correct.

Phoning may be better since you can essentially cross-examine the person dealing with your case. If they say something you know to be wrong you can query it there and then. Its a lot easier for them to send out a boilerplate letter than it is to justify their thinking to someone with an opposing view over the phone. Worst case scenario is they convince you that your band is correct.

Good luck.

Thank you, I will definitely do that - the main bugbear is that eot is Band D and mid terrace is Band C - for identical size houses. We are therefore paying £20 more per month just for the benefit of an end wall and a three foot wide path down the side.

jbman_2

Hope someone can help a newbie to chat forums and the council tax cashback article by Martin.
I have followed what he suggested (he makes it sound so very easy), found a property like mine that sold recently, used that valuation in Nationwide House Price Calculator and received a valuation of £43896 in Q2 of 1991.
This should place me in band B and yet I have been in band C since 1993.
I have lived in this property since it was built in 1971.
I challenged the Valuation Officer, firstly was told "Invalid" - "out of time", I then appealed and was told it would go to the Independent Valuation Tribunals Service.
Since then a person from the Valuation Office came and took a Photo of the outside of my property and the most recent letter from them informs me they do not agree that a different valuation band should apply and that they are satisfied the valuation of my property reflects April 1991 level of value which places my property within the range £52,000 to £68,000 and the current band of C is correct. They have told me they do not intend to alter the Valuation list entry
Apart from the Nationwide House Price Calculator how can I prove the value of my property in 1991.
Regards
Jimmy