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

mikads

Hi, I dont know if I am doing this right ( first time on site). I recently found out that similar properties on my estate were in a lower band. Contacted banding dept, who informed me that I was in correct band, so asked could I appeal, they have sent appeal form which I find difficult to understand. My 1991 price was over 40000, I bought the house in 2000 for 40500, and according to this sites calculator I am in wrong band. Any ideas please
Cheers

suecoo1966

:mad:
Had my tribunal hearing today, went through the whole case and thought I was in with a good chance. The Listing Officer was not very well prepared as he had been passed the case only last week. Actually my case seems to have been passed through 3 listing officers! The first one went on holiday and the second one passed the case on for some reason. Anyway of the properties he used as comparable evidence he had no photos to show the type of house they were. He also used houses that were not within the same neighbourhood even though one was marked on the map. The panel asked why he hadn't used that one and he just stated that they mark 26 properties but dont have to give details of all of them. I complained that one of the previous listing officers had told me I couldn't use houses in other neighbourhoods, when he had used the lneighbourhood he told me I couldn't!
He also stated that Nationwide was unreliable evidence but used this tool himself! He argued that they had access to more specific evidence on the Nationwide website? like house type etc.
Can anyone help? None of my local libraries have microfich anymore, where else can I get evidence?

vivatifosi

Hi Suecoo,

You may find that there are still papers available in hard copy somewhere, or that the paper collections have moved to local museums.

Here's a link for newspapers covering West Essex and Epping area:

http://www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/Museum/collectionnewspapers.asp

If that's not your area, then the British Library has an extensive collection of local papers. I've a readers card for the BL and sometimes they have to send down documents from their storage depot (in York I think) so I'd call ahead and see what they have. You may also need to register as a reader to use this facility. Here's a link for the newspapers section:

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/newspapers.html

Or the publishers may know where their publications are being archived as they are probably sending copies over.

Finally, if all else fails, you could always try the National Archive in Kew, but that's a bit of a longshot!

brightonbuoy

For Grace21...in the same boat.
Grace, I'm trying to catch up with you so I have put in written complaints or pleas to the Argus, Sunday Times financial problem page, my local MP, the Standards & Complaints board at the Council and I have put a written claim in to the VOA. If I get no joy, I will try the Local Government Ombudsman next and finally I will put a claim in to the County Court using their small claims procedure..useful as you can add Statutory Interest at a rate of 8% back to 1993.
I will let you know the outcome as they arise. How is your claim progressing?

Fred_the_Red

Hi,

I've appealed to the listings officer who said I'm in the correct band. I asked what evidence they were using and could I see it . They said they could not let me see it. Doaes anybody know how to get the evidence/

Thanks.

Babycakes

We recently moved into a house which had been extended by the previous owner. It was band E when we moved in and then revalued to band F.

Only problem is the previous house we lived in was a band F and it was a fully detached extended property with a huge garden on a better road in the locality.

Our present house is a 3-bed semi with no garage and shared drive. There are other similiar extended houses but no sales in the last seven years and so it is hard to say what band a similar property is in.

Nationwide shows this property as being in band E using their online calculator based upon sale price and our last property being band F based upon sale price.

Will the Nationwide valuation in 1991 be sufficient evidence? Surely their methodology is sound and takes away the guesswork that the VOA use? If they argue against the Nationwide, can I take their argument to Nationwide and say that the VOA do not believe it to be accurate?

I am sad and confused and really could do with some help.

Many Thanks

Maisie

Babycakes. Council tax banding is very confusing as a lot of us have found out!

You can check the banding of other local properties https://www.voa.gov.uk. See what nearby ones are compared to yours.

Don't forget that the c/tax bandings covered quite an extended price range Maybe you are at the bottom of F with your present one and the top of F band with the other?.

If you are thinking of asking voa for a review of banding do it asap if you think it is wrong as you are in a better position if you have not been there 6 months. You won't need any other evidence at this point. Voa can reject applications as out of time if you've been in the property more than 6 months and it will be a lot more difficult for you.

As for the Nationwide calculator, the voa will dismiss it as inaccurate if you are using it but I read in one of the posts or on the valuation tribunals site (can't remember where) that a listing officer used it!

Have a look back at some of the posts there's a lot of good information.

Good luck. Maisie

Daisy_Bell

They won't show it to you unless you are eligible to go to a full tribunal Fred. Something about privacy rules. I tried to see my VOA's evidence also. In vain I'm afraid. According to some of the threads on here, some VOA's have provided some evidence to claimants who are outside the six months rule like myself, but it seems there are no consistent rules governing all the VOA agencies. It depends where you live.

vivatifosi

Hi Daisy Bell,

Did you see the post I put in a week or so ago about the Parliamentary Ombudsman?

In that case, a complainant argued to the ombudsman that he was not able to see the evidence on his house. This case went to the Ombudsman in 1999 and referred to a house first occupied by the complainant in 1992 (so again he was out of date). It upheld the right to privacy over information, but also suggested to the VOA that they wrote to homeowners still occupying the original houses and asked for their permission to share that info, which in some cases they did.

If the houses haven't changed hands then the ruling may be able to help breach the impasse.

Here's a link so you can read in full:

http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/improving_services/selected_cases/AOI/aoi9910/8915-a39.html

Daisy_Bell

Yes I did see that vivatifosi and I copied it all too! But to tell you the truth, since the 'Out of time' Tribunal, I've rather given up I'm afraid. I'm finding the whole thing very worrying and stressful and I'm wondering if it is all worth the hassle! The VOA has promised me a further review and no matter what happens, I feel inclined to just pack it all in!