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

Zebedeee

Lea37 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I'm trying to check my mum's house but am struggling.

It's a hard one to work out as the house is large and distinctive and there's no other property in the area to compare it with really.

It's a Band E property in a street with 5 A's, 4 B's and a C with most of the nearby street's houses being Band A.

She says that when she has had valuations in the past they've always struggled as it's so distinctive so it's hard to put a price on it now or then (she's lived there for 28 years).

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Its tricky when your house is one of a kind, but all you can do is try to find some kind of comparison. Compare with other large houses (doesn't need to look similar, just have similar square footage, number of bedrooms, etc.) You may have to look further afield in your town and then compare with those bandings.

Hope that helps!

Zebedeee

Chillitotes

Hi

I have just gone through the article on council tax re-banding. Have checked the band of the properties on our street including our neighbours and we are all in band B. Based on the sale of our neighbours house in 2004, I calculated the value of the property, which is identical to ours, at £39750.00. Other properties on our street are smaller than ours but are still classed as Band B. I am not sure whether to speak to the council about the banding or whether to leave it?

Thanks
:think:

Zebedeee

Chillitotes, when you say you 'calculated the band' do you mean you used one of the house price calculators to extrapolate a 1991 value based on the 2004 selling price? If so, you will need more evidence than this as house price indicators can be wildly inaccurate. You need to find actual selling prices from 1991. Have a look back at my earlier posts to see how to do this.

Hope that helps!

Zebedeee

Chillitotes

The house wasn't built until 1996

Zebedeee

Chillitotes wrote: »

The house wasn't built until 1996

See my post #1979.

Coomkeenlass

This sounds like I'm a bit thick, but can you claim on council tax paid on a property you have since sold? I have my parents in mind, who bought their council flat in the late 80s/early 90s through the right to buy scheme, then sold it in Dec 1996. They were paying on Band C, but in 1991 it was calculated as Band B. My father has since died, and my mother lives with me now in SW Ireland. Any help appreciated.

ZOE

HELLO THERE,
My house is a band B, all other domestic properties in the steet are also band B.
My house is one in the middle of a row of four (terraced) the rest of the properties are all semi's. They are ex council properties built pre 1928.

I have checked council tax banding and local house prices. and thought that it wasn't worth doing.
Then my friend has said it should be classed as band A since it wasn't worth 40,000 in 1991. In 1996 I paid 38,950 does this mean I should always have been a band A??

Zebedeee

Coomkeenlass wrote: »

This sounds like I'm a bit thick, but can you claim on council tax paid on a property you have since sold? I have my parents in mind, who bought their council flat in the late 80s/early 90s through the right to buy scheme, then sold it in Dec 1996. They were paying on Band C, but in 1991 it was calculated as Band B. My father has since died, and my mother lives with me now in SW Ireland. Any help appreciated.

Check out post #1975 among others, although I must add that it isn't guaranteed that you will get a refund!

Hope that helps.

Zebedeee

w88chy

Hi there,

Reading all these different cases and it's a lot to take in. I have a quick question that i'm hoping someone can help me with.

My house is currently in Band E and all my neighbours are Band D now this is where it gets complicated. I have a single garage as does my neighbour, but his house is smaller in size to mine but not by much and he is in band D. All my neighbours do not have garages and are band D . Does having a garage affect the outcome of my banding?

Your help would be much appreciated and thanks in advance.

I'm in Scotland.

SaverSarah_2

Anyone who's been through this know if it's worth claiming for a home that's less than 10 years old?

I've done the check and almost every house in our street is band E, the same as us, so no tick there.

And because our house wasn't actually built in 1991 I just don't know if there's much chance of a result...

Any advice appreciated.