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

Freakyleaky

Hi, I have checked the banding of 4 other houses in my street that I know to be identical to mine and they are in band c but we are in band d. I am sure this is wrong so should I contact the local listing people via letter, phone or can I do it on-line somewhere? We have lived here for just over 4 years.
Thanks for any help in advance!

Zebedeee

Freakyleaky wrote: »

Hi, I have checked the banding of 4 other houses in my street that I know to be identical to mine and they are in band c but we are in band d. I am sure this is wrong so should I contact the local listing people via letter, phone or can I do it on-line somewhere? We have lived here for just over 4 years.
Thanks for any help in advance!

Freakyleaky, you can use any of the above methods to contact the VOA. There is a link on the VOA website that you can use to go directly from your listing to question the banding.

HTH!

Zebedee

Freakyleaky

oh I see! Once you do the search thingy on the VOA site you can link direct from there!
Got it now. Sorry grey matter a bit sludgy due to to much time infront of PC.
Thanks Zebedee!

Dribble_2

grace21 wrote: »

I have finally got a reply to my letter (please see original posting on page 51)...... I got rebanded but my local council would only rebate 6yrs instead of the full 14yr rebate I'm entitled too.

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That's great advice you've received so far,grace21. The wording of the letter suggests they are on dodgy ground,almost apologetic. Not normal for these people when they are sure of their actions. I agree with guppy about not needing a lawyer. It's waffle.... and testing their case through the courts would hit their budget even harder.

Even suggesting to 'em you intend escalating the situation to 'MP' level should shake up the beurocratic twit who is giving you this hassle.....and go through with it if need be. (Your MP is bound to run a face to face surgery locally if he/she is any good) They are going through funny times and you may find a very sympathetic ear.

Ougs103

Hi, can anyone advise.....

I recently challenged my banding and it got rejected. We bought our house in 2005 for £239000 and are in band E. Using Nationwide and Project analyser we should be in band D (PA placed our value at 74k in 1991, comfortably in band D!). The VOA are happy it falls in band E..... how can they value it so differently?

frugalpam

Ougs103 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone advise.....

I recently challenged my banding and it got rejected. We bought our house in 2005 for £239000 and are in band E. Using Nationwide and Project analyser we should be in band D (PA placed our value at 74k in 1991, comfortably in band D!). The VOA are happy it falls in band E..... how can they value it so differently?

Hi - I'm pretty new to this, but from what I've read, the VOA like some hard evidence of what the house - or a very similar one nearby - sold for in or near to 1991 when the bands were set.
I've applied for a reassessment of my banding, and produced evidence of what it sold for in both 1988 and 1997 (one of those being a Land Registry document) I also discovered an almost identical house to mine was in a lower band, and quoted that as well. Still waiting to hear the outcome.
I'd do some research if I were you, to help your case.

Pam

Mandy1980_2

Hi

I have just followed Martins guide to reclaim council tax and after doing the valuation, it turns out i should be in B not C but all my neighbours are in C..... Is there any template letter i can use to write and ask them to change based on the valuation information?

Dribble_2

Ougs103 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone advise.....

I recently challenged my banding and it got rejected. We bought our house in 2005 for £239000 and are in band E. Using Nationwide and Project analyser we should be in band D (PA placed our value at 74k in 1991, comfortably in band D!). The VOA are happy it falls in band E..... how can they value it so differently?

Hi Ougs103

I have EXACTLY the same problem.Got to prove to 'em my £99,000 1997 newbuild house could have been bought for £88,000 in April 1991 to justify a re-rating from E to D.

It's a hard slog because they will resist all the evidence offered.You will have to dig out hard facts about actual sales etc and fend off nonsense about floor area and sizes. Read their rules for assessing 1991 values and check out how tribunal conclusions are reached.

The website 'analysers' won't influence them (Mine fails the Nationwide one but passes the Projectanlyser one which is far more accurate and based on PostCode district sales)

In my case I have been lucky to find good,hard,provable sales evidence plus useful postcode comparisons etc.Correspondence has become very detailed and interesting.

Best of luck if you take 'em on.

Dribble_2

frugalpam wrote: »

Hi - I'm pretty new to this, but from what I've read, the VOA like some hard evidence of what the house - or a very similar one nearby - sold for in or near to 1991 when the bands were set.
I've applied for a reassessment of my banding, and produced evidence of what it sold for in both 1988 and 1997 (one of those being a Land Registry document) I also discovered an almost identical house to mine was in a lower band, and quoted that as well. Still waiting to hear the outcome.
I'd do some research if I were you, to help your case.

Pam

Hi

It's likely you'll get the standard letter about prices dropping from around 1990 so you will have to do your homework on figures for 1991 and pin them down to their own rules. You'll get past this hurdle.

Maisie

Mandy1980 wrote: »

Hi

I have just followed Martins guide to reclaim council tax and after doing the valuation, it turns out i should be in B not C but all my neighbours are in C..... Is there any template letter i can use to write and ask them to change based on the valuation information?

Mandy If you are just going by the Nationwide guide .. well quite frankly don't! voa won't take that as evidence. You'll have to find out how much your house was worth in 1991. If all the neighbours are band C as well and same houses you're going to need a lot of supporting evidence to back your appeal. Start by looking at this thread and the previous posts and excellent advice from knowledgeable people.

It's not all as easy as shown on the Success thread and you'll have to do your homework to get anywhere with voa.

See Dribble's post #1137 and Zebedee/ Frugalpam's posts and you'll see the hard slog some of us are having.

Good luck. Maisie