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

mandy_weir

enquired about my banding in january gentleman from lothian valuation board inspected property as 2 identical propertys in street are band A received letter today from them saying my band is still B & other two propertys lodged appeal in !993 & i should have appealed by 30/11/1993 but i never started renting my property to feb 1997,as a single parent dont pay full amount of charges but have made payments since 1997 am i entitled to reclaiming anything back as doesnt state anything in letter only that i have 4wks to appeal.Can anyone help? thanks

PennyPurple

Hi,

Does anyone know if the Valuation Office are legally obliged to advise you their final decision within a certain amount of time? And if so, please could someone send me a link that states this so I can quote it to Bromley?

I raised my issue to them in December, they replied in January and I've been chasing ever since and they keep saying it's not done yet, because they're revaluing the whole estate (we live on a newish development of houses).

And does anyone else have experience of Council Tax rebandings with Bromley?

Many thanks!

Penny

katyp

Our houses were built in 1989, when they were sold at aprox £55,000 brand-new. We moved in in 2002, and paid £96,000, although an identical house (with new kitchen etc) sold around about the same time for £120,000, so we did get ours cheap. However, we are band E, which means that, in 1991, it was considered to be worth £88,000 or more. I would argue that there is no way the value could have increased by £33K between 1989 (new) and 1991 (council tax banding year), on nethouseprices, it actually shows a DECREASE in value over the period to £51K. Is this enough to challenge the banding? I checked last night, and all the other houses on the estate are the same band as ours, and there were no similar houses to compare with ours in 1991. Can someone help me?

guppy

Hi Katy,

If the 1989 prices are below £88K then this is a great start. Prices crashed from 1989 onwards, so 1991 values would almost certainly be lower as you've already seen.

The VOA will be well aware of this and they should also have details of all the 1989 sales prices from your estate. I would simply phone them in the first instance, its worth checking that they have the right details of your house too. Around 1989/90 the poll tax was being introduced so it could be the VOA never visited the properties when they were first built since there was no property tax at that time.

If the £55k at 1989 figure is right, this would suggest you should be in Band C (assuming you are in England). That's such a big error compared to Band E that it doesn't make sense to me. Even an estate agent driving past in a car should be able to tell the difference between an estate of Band C houses and one of Band E houses.

If you don't get anywhere from phoning you might need to get some hard evidence of the 1989 prices.

Good luck!

saverram

Do you know if other 1 Beds are banded the same in your block? The VOA may suspect they have the wrong details for your flat, it was probably banded from plans orginally and different plots do get mixed up occasionally.

Failing that, it may just be the person dealing with your appeal wants to see the flat and the development to judge for themselves what it is like. If they didn't think you had a hope they probably wouldn't bother, so at least you know they are taking you seriously.

It might give you a chance to highlight any negative factors and put across your arguments in person.

Good luck!

Hi thansk for your reply. i checked . all the properties are branded similarly E for 1 bed and F for 2 bed. i will keeep you updated when the valuation officer comes on monday.Fingers crossed he will reduce the band.
thanks once again

GranGran_3

Hi,
I have recently been in contact with my local Council and was rejected on the grounds that my house was worth at least £52,000 (Band C) in 1991.
And that I may NOT appeal against their decision.
I have done my homework and checked the prices as per instructions in article. Which showed the houses in my street to be worth £50.500 (Band .
I now wish to appeal but I need prove of house prices for 1991.
The link in the article at Nationwide now only give areas i.e. North West and not Post Codes which is of no use at all.
I have been in contact with my local Land Registry but there records only go back to 1995 and even then the house prices were under The £52,000 ceiling.
Can anyone please help in where to get an accurate house price figure for 1991 even if I have to pay for it.
Thanks
Audrey

Maisie

GranGran wrote: »

Hi,
I have recently been in contact with my local Council and was rejected on the grounds that my house was worth at least £52,000 (Band C) in 1991.
And that I may NOT appeal against their decision.
I have done my homework and checked the prices as per instructions in article. Which showed the houses in my street to be worth £50.500 (Band .
I now wish to appeal but I need prove of house prices for 1991.
The link in the article at Nationwide now only give areas i.e. North West and not Post Codes which is of no use at all.
I have been in contact with my local Land Registry but there records only go back to 1995 and even then the house prices were under The £52,000 ceiling.
Can anyone please help in where to get an accurate house price figure for 1991 even if I have to pay for it.
Thanks
Audrey

Audrey. Ask your library if they have microfilm of the local newspapers for 1991. You can look at them and make copies of any pages with similar houses and the asking price.
Ask any neighbours who may have bought/sold around that time for prices.

You can't use the calculator alone. It's not accurate and the voa won't accept that as evidence.

Look back at the posts on this thread there's lots of good information.

Good luck. Maisie

far

Roger_Bar wrote: »

My wife and I are on a low income and have benefited from CT Benefit. However, since our son went to university last autumn, the Benefit has been drastically reduced and the Council wants to reclaim Benefit already credited. I don't feel richer having the kid at uni, and in fact he's with us half the year. Anyone have any idea of a legal way to reduce this tax burden ?

You'd be better off asking this in the benefits section however, and I'm no expert on this matter, have you told the council that he's still studying full time? That should mean he is still classed as a dependant and no non-dependant deductions should be made from your benefit which is what I suspect is happening here. They will need to see proof he is on a course - acceptance letter from the insitution should usually be enough.

Maisie

Roger_Bar wrote: »

My wife and I are on a low income and have benefited from CT Benefit. However, since our son went to university last autumn, the Benefit has been drastically reduced and the Council wants to reclaim Benefit already credited. I don't feel richer having the kid at uni, and in fact he's with us half the year. Anyone have any idea of a legal way to reduce this tax burden ?

Roger. As Far says you might get the advice you need on the Benefits thread. This one is for people trying to get their council tax banding changed.

However check your CT banding at https://www.voa.gov.uk to make sure you are not on a higher band than the neighbours.

Good Luck. Maisie

dadoronron

I recently challenged my Council Tax banding after going through the stages to check what it could be via the websites etc recommended by MSE. I worked out that I could be in Band C instead of the current D. Two other houses in my road are Band C and are identical to my house. The VOA have said that my current banding is correct. What can I do now?