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

guppy

daveyh wrote: »

I phoned the VOA for the first claim. They listened and, I thought, took down all the details. Just short of a month I got an answer that the banding stands. They also said I had no right of appeal.

I phoned a named contact on the letter from VOA. Explained what had been written, that they had based it on the fact that I had claimed my neighbours house is exactly the same build/style, but with more land and is on a lower Banding than mine.

I claimed that the person taking the details obviously hadnt listened, or understood, what I had said prior to adding that the neighbours is on a lower band (B). The fact that my house was valued in September 1991, and its value was £500, below the maximum of B Band. Yet I am in C Band.

They told me to apply again and ask for a "Second Review". I have sent as much evidence as I can, including a copy of the valuation report from 1991 showing the value. Any idea if this has worked for anyone else? Any idea of what I should expect?

Hi Davey,

Sounds like you're on the right track. If you send stuff in writing you don't have to rely on someone passing on what you have said over the phone.

What was the purpose of the 1991 valuation report you had? It sounds very strange that it puts you in a Band A and the VOA have you in Band C. Was the house in a bad state or anything like that?

daveyh_3

guppy wrote: »

Hi Davey,

Sounds like you're on the right track. If you send stuff in writing you don't have to rely on someone passing on what you have said over the phone.

What was the purpose of the 1991 valuation report you had? It sounds very strange that it puts you in a Band A and the VOA have you in Band C. Was the house in a bad state or anything like that?

The valuation was for purchase of the house in September 1991. It was in perfect condition, 4 yrs old. But the valuation should put it in Band B. They have me in band C. I know it was only £500 below the limit. But even if it was £1 or £3000 below, it is below.

So I thought I would send them a copy of the valuation and estate agents sales pitch. There are only two houses of this type on the Close. The other one is on Band B.

tonyatglend

Hi everyone new poster here, i've tried to read through this thread but i'm getting totally confused so i'm hoping someone can clear something up for me. After watching the video martin said that i shouldn't appeal if all similar houses are in the same band. After checking, all similar properties are in band D but when i use the 1991 valuation guide my house comes into the band C price range. My question is if it's possible for all properties to be wrongly branded and if anyone has had any success using only the 1991 house value argument, if so any any info on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated

vivatifosi

Hi Tony,

Welcome, hope this is your first post of many on your way to saving lots of money!

Splitting your question into two: is it possible for all properties to be wrongly banded. In theory yes. Has anyone had any success using only the 1991 house value argument: this is less likely given your circumstances. In fact I don't know of anyone in a similar situation, but that isn't to say that they don't exist!

Is your house and the others in your street similar to other houses in the same district of town or town itself? If so then your best bet is to spend an hour or so in your local library trawling through the microfilms and seeing if you can find the same type of house in 1991 and what price it was selling for. Remember, prices were going down in 1991 so prices exceeding the asking price would have been extremely unlikely. You need to research the months of January-April, as those would have been the ones nearing or at completion at the time that the Antecedent Valuation Date (AVD - the nominal date on which all properties were valued) was set.

This may be a very fruitful, or entirely fruitless exercise. Unfortunately at this stage you won't know which. Challenging your band isn't always easy, but there are many of us here on this site who try and share information and ideas to make it less stressful.

Good luck!

tonyatglend

Hi there thanks for the welcome and the quick reply,

looks like i'm going to miss out on this but i'm going to give the library a visit anyway. nothing ventured nothing gained as they say although it was all terraced council houses within a 4 mile radius in 1991. the most annoying thing is that according to the house price calculator my home would need to be worth another £40,000 today to have put me into band D


Oh well time to get saving

dmcm9

Hello everyone, i'm a new Poster here and am looking for a bit of help.

Living in Scotland I'm in contact with my local Assessors office regarding the banding of my house - its in Band E when it should be in Band D.

I say should be, as during lengthy (and still ongoing correspondence) with the Assessors office they actually provided me with evidence which supports Band D for my property.

What the Assessor has provided me with is a list of 40 propeties, all 3 bed, semis, just as my own, but all of which were in Band D. They also included a list of 12 sales which took place between Jan 1991 and June 1991 which are all in the Band D range.

Even with this evidence the Assessor is still insisting Band E is correct and given that i'm out-of-time i don't seem to have any comeback, even when my Band is clearly wrong.

Does anyone have any advice/ideas as to where/who i can take this matter up with?

Thank you.

P.S. For those living in Scotland there is a site called www.scottishhouseprices.com which gives access to sale prices from 1991.

guppy

daveyh wrote: »

The valuation was for purchase of the house in September 1991. It was in perfect condition, 4 yrs old. But the valuation should put it in Band B. They have me in band C. I know it was only £500 below the limit. But even if it was £1 or £3000 below, it is below.

Sorry Davey, misread your original post...I was thinking the valuation was £500 below the minimum of Band B, not the maximum!

Good luck!

guppy

dmcm9 wrote: »

They also included a list of 12 sales which took place between Jan 1991 and June 1991 which are all in the Band D range.

Even with this evidence the Assessor is still insisting Band E is correct and given that i'm out-of-time i don't seem to have any comeback, even when my Band is clearly wrong.

Hello,

This sounds odd...did the Assessor provide any explanation of why they believe E is right given their evidence points to Band D? Are they saying your house is better? I would ask them to explain, if you're not happy with their explanation, ask to speak to someone more senior maybe?

Good luck

eleanorj

I wonder if anyone can give me some advice re council tax banding. I have appealed to have ours changed as I live in a semi detached house and my neighbour whose house is indentical to mine is in a band B whilst I am in Band C. Infact mine is the only house in the street on Band C.
When I checked out the banding status for our postcode I noticed that mine was set at April 1991 and my neighbours was set at April 1993.
At first I received a letter saying I was out of time to appeal. I therefore appealed this and I have now received a letter saying I can have a face to face court hearing or I can have a hearing by correspondence. They also said that most people arrange to have a correspondence hearing. I would be grateful if anyone can give me advice regarding which one I should accept.

ps well done to all of you who have been successful in reclaiming!

guppy

Hi Eleanor,

The hearing you describe is only to establish whether your appeal really is out of time or not. The tribunal won't be able to consider your banding. However the VOA do have a duty to look in to your query and they will consider this "informally" as a seperate issue.

If you've been in the house over six months, I would say there is no point in going to the tribunal. Instead, focus your efforts on convincing the VOA that you are in the wrong band. It sounds like you have a good case regarding the banding.

Good luck.