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

Zebedeee

marcus79 wrote: »

right...soz i think im being as thick as 2 short planks.....
my house was worth in 1991 70k now it worth 155k.
when i phoned up the ppl that deal with my tax band they said it was all in correct order, so am i being stupid here or have i missed something.

What band are you in, marcus79? Do you live in England, Wales or Scotland?

marcus79_2

Zebedeee wrote: »

What band are you in, marcus79? Do you live in England, Wales or Scotland?

band D , but aparently everyone else down my street in same band.
live in england, suffolk
my council is forest heath district

andysstuff_2

marcus79 wrote: »

band D , but aparently everyone else down my street in same band.
live in england, suffolk
my council is forest heath district

If you were worth £70K in 1991 and are in band D, then the banding is correct, Band D covers £68,001 to £88,000 in 1991

the_alnwick_five

hi
we moved in Feb 07 and our band is correct at the new property, however just checking the old property it would appear that the band was incorrect at the old house. Can we makew a claim for a property we no longer own? I have all the paperwork and bills from the old house. I just wondered if it was worth a try.
Thanks and apologies if i am in the wrong place as this is my first post

vivatifosi

Hi alnwick five,

Crikey, I had a feeling the board was going to be busy today. Thank goodness Zebedee was on the night shift

You can't make an appeal on a property that you are no longer in, but if you persuade the new owners to make an appeal, then if they win the Council should refund you as well.

vivatifosi

Marionk wrote: »

We moved into our brand new house in Dec 93, have worked out the price for 1991 and think that we are being over charged but everybody on our estate is paying Band C, can you confirm this is correct even though our house wasn't built until 93. Also how can I re-check that my figures are correct before I contact the council. Any suggestions?

Hi Marion,

You are in a similar situation to me as my house was built as new in 1993. When you say everyone on your estate is paying C, I take it that is the band that you think you are being overcharged on (as opposed to your a D and everyone else is a C)? To start, if everyone is paying the same, to be honest you have less chance of winning a reband unless there is clear cut evidence of a mistake.

As Martin said, you need to establish what your house was worth in 1991. The best way to do this is find a similar estate locally that was new in 1991 (preferably the early part of the year as prices weren't the same throughout 1991). Comparing new to new gives a more like for like comparison than new to old. Generally new developments were advertised extensively in the local press, so if you remember similar estates going up then, check the local paper archives at your library and hopefully this will give you a result.

However, I must reiterate, yours will be a hard case to win. If you have lived there a long time then you won't have an automatic right to tribunal, only to have the list corrected. The fact that everyone else is in the same band suggests that there isn't an inconsistency. Also, unlike the "second gear valuations" Martin was discussing, as your house was new it was probably valued initially by the VOA in the first place, making the correct valuation more likely.

Zebedeee

marcus79 wrote: »

band D , but aparently everyone else down my street in same band.
live in england, suffolk
my council is forest heath district

It looks like you are in the correct band, marcus79. The VOA did get some of the bandings right!

HTH!

Zebedeee

paul1963

Hello, just joined this morning, so not sure where to ask this:
After watching last night's programme about banding, I decided to have a look and see what, if any, banding issues I can profit on.
My neighbour has just moved in, to a house exactly the same as ours, we are both in band E...he paid £249,950 in April 2007...using the house price calculator, our houses were worth £74,738 back in 1991.(the houses were built after, in 1995), which would mean we should be in band D...however, the same house was sold in 2001 for £144,000, and, again using the calculator with the 2001 price, the house would have been worth £88,364 back in 1991 (band E)...so, which price would the correct one be?. If the recent price (April 2007) is the correct one, would I have a case to lower my band?
Any answers would be appreciated,
Thanks, Paul (mid devon)

Zebedeee

Hi paul1963

While the house price calculators can be helpful, on their own they aren't accepted as real evidence for a change of band. What you need is actual prices from 1991 for your type of property. I know how difficult this can be when your house wasn't actually built at the time the bands were set (I was in the same boat) but it can be done. You might find that there were some built nearby which are similar (they don't have to be identical, just simillar in size, number of bedrooms, etc) which were built earlier than yours. Or, perhaps in similar areas to yours there may be comparable properties. Check their bandings.

Also, I would recommend you go to your local library and look up the newspaper archives for 1991 to find the prices your type of property sold for at the time. New developments usually get lots of advertising space so you should be able to find something.

Remember that new homes attract a premium because they are often fitted with new kitchen appliances, new carpets, etc. These boost the price paid, but shouldn't actually be included in the value of the property. You might find this helpful when negociating your way to a lower band.

vivatifosi

Hi Paul,

Zebedeee is absolutely correct. By the way, how much was your house in 1995? If you tell us your starting point it may be we can help you with some other tools too.