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

Zebedeee

mike433, I did what CSL suggested and sent a letter recorded delivery and also copied in my local MP. It had the desired effect of stopping the VOA from ignoring me.

You sound like you have got a very good case, so don't give up.

Zebedeee

mike433

I have spoken to them on the phone today. The "listing officer" told me in effect that their valuations were based on gross external area. Talking to this woman was like talking to an idiot politician. It has taken about 4 months and 6 or seven letters, for them to tell me that my extended two up two down is listed as having 5 bedrooms and 2 reception rooms. Yet they still will not change the banding!!! It is so annoying!

mike433

PS..this ie what it says at the end of the latest latter...

I do not propose to undertake any further review of the band of your property nor revisit the issues you have raised again as this will not in my view serve any purpose having looked at these matters on four occasions. I will therefore only look into this further if you supply me with new detailed evidence of open market sales of comparable property around April 1991.

In the words of that chap on one foot in the grave: "I do not believe i!!!"

mike433

pps..

and they wont give me public information that is held at the landregistry because of this:

"I also hold historic property transaction records in respect of your property to which you are not a party. Existing legislation only allows disclosure of sales information which may involve other peoples' tax affairs in connection with formal appeal proceedings. As the review I have undertaken is not a result of formal proceedings, I am unable to supply you with this other sales evidence in respect of your property or the other transactions that occurred in the locality on similar properties around April 1991. This is because I have a duty of confidentiality to the taxpayer under sections 18 (1) to 23 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. Section 19 of the Act actually makes it a criminal offence for information to be released if a taxpayer can be deduced from that information. This provision is not overridden by the Freedom of Information Act 2000"

How can a taxpayer be deduced by telling me that number 25, for example, was sold for X amount at a certain date 16 years ago???

CSL_2

This does seem rather strange. I bet that if I tried to use this argument on my tiny One Bedroom Semi having a gross external area of just 25.45 (5m x5.09m) they would reject my claim instantly and give me short shrift.

Just a guess, but perhaps your Listing Officer meant to say gross external VOLUME in cubic metres of the property.

But cannot find anything about this in VOA Operations Manual. I Think its now time for experts like V and G to come back into this as I could be out of my depth on this one. I am only just about to start my fight..............and am still a rank amateur on this front

CSL
Monday 3rd December 2007

Zebedeee

mike433 wrote: »

I will therefore only look into this further if you supply me with new detailed evidence of open market sales of comparable property around April 1991.

mike433, have you been able to find any sales figures from 1991 to support your case? Take a trip to your library and dig through the old property pages to see what the asking prices were for simillar properties in 1991.

Another route you could try to get them to re-open your case is to look at tribunal decisions in your area. http://www.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk/listings-decisions/index.html If you can find a property simillar to yours, not necessarily on your doorstep, but in a simillar locality in your local council area, who has had a band change then they have to look at yours again on that basis. It got my band challenge restarted after months at stalemate.

Hope that helps!

zebedeee

mike433

Thanks , Zeb and CSL, each letter I get says this is the end of the matter bla bla bla..

The problem is they think my 2 bed terrace is similar to the double fronted 4 bed terrace a few doors away rather than the house nextdoor because of the single story extension at the back that I have. "Similar" in their eyes is like saying a Zebra is similar to a Giraffe; the both have 4 legs!
Thanks for that tip about the library and the newsapapers. I hadn't thought of that.

CSL_2

Dear Mike 433,

Just a thought, which you might have already considered. If so, then apologies for stating the obvious. After you have got the info that Zeb suggested, then why not enclose a floorplan of your two up/two down property together with basic floorplans of the larger properties that the VOA are confusing yours with.

Hopefully, this will concentrate the LO`s mind on what you are trying to convince her of. Might be the breakthrough that you are seeking.

Hope that I don`t have to go through the problems that you are experiencing when I put in my claim for my tiny ONE BED Semi.

Best wishes and every success!!!

CSL
Tuesday 4th December 2007

guppy

CSL wrote: »

Just a guess, but perhaps your Listing Officer meant to say gross external VOLUME in cubic metres of the property.

But cannot find anything about this in VOA Operations Manual. I Think its now time for experts like V and G to come back into this as I could be out of my depth on this one. I am only just about to start my fight..............and am still a rank amateur on this front

Hello,

The band should reflect the "size, layout, character and locality of the dwelling". All that means is, they shouldn't be comparing chalk with cheese, i.e. a modern house with a cottage, or a 3 bed house on a bad estate with one on a posh estate.

Gross external area is the floor area (exluding garages) measured from the outside, so including the wall thickness. Most houses have similar wall thicknesses so it makes little difference for comparison purposes.

Value is the most important thing though, in my opinion, size can be a red herring. Especially in respect of small, poor quality extensions.

Has anyone actually been out to visit your house, Mike?

mike433

Guppy, you should read some of the correspondance. Some of it is quite funny. They will write to me saying things like "maybe your neighbours houses were extended after '93...perhaps bla bla bla..." then end the letter; "we have now carried out a full investigation bla bla bla". As soon as I get that I write back saying maybe and perhaps does not count as a full investigation etc ...and then point out error after error and mistake after mistake.