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

vivatifosi

martinbucks wrote: »

I have done the checks on the website for checking my council tax banding and the first one showed that all properties similar to mine in my street are in band E. But on the second step it showed that my house was worth approx £82,000 in 1991 and band E then was £88,000 to £120,000! Does anyone think I have a good case to challenge my banding?

Hi martinbucks,

If all your neighbours are in the same band then challenging is harder. The price calculators are not 100% accurate, they are there to give a ballpark figure. Different towns may behave differently. You could try working out the growth rate for your specific town using the av prices I've posted in the link I've posted for francodevil above. If it still comes out lower than £88k then go to the library and find similar properties on the market in early 1991. There's no easier way when all your neighbours' bands are the same I'm afraid.

littlepockets

vivatifosi wrote: »

Hi littlepockets,

Yep, that is how they do it. I don't know why, but I would imagine that it would be easier to gather data for buildings that you are measuring from the outside rather than asking for entry to someone's house.

I found this somewhat long definition on the VOA's website which showed some typical properties:

Floor Areas
For all those types of houses described above, the floor area shown is the reduced covered area, which is the area of the ground and first floors based on external measurements. For the flat described above, the floor area shown is the effective
floor area, which is the floor area of the living rooms, bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom/wc and excludes the hallway area.

Thanks vivatifosi

I checked their calculation and it is overstated so a useful thing to check

I found this website
http://www.projectanalyser.co.uk/CouncilTaxAppealReview.aspx
it talks about "The key evidence provided by the VOA at the appeal is a property price per m2 calculation"

when I use this and compare to similar properties it gives me sonme useful points of argument in my favour

quidsinquentin

Can anyone tell me if a two bedroom extension actually increases your tax band?

We are in band C, as are neighbours who also have a two-bed extension (I've checked on the voa.gov site). All the other neighbours are band B - no extensions there.

Can I presume that we are a higher band simply because of that?

Zebedeee

quidsinquentin, it would depend on a couple of things. Asuming you live in England, as that is where I know about, it would depend on when you had the extension done. If your house was extended pre-1991 then it would be taken into account in the valuation. If it was extended since the bands were set in 1991 then it couldn't be included in the valuation unless it had been sold subsequently. In other words, if you owned the property prior to the extension and you extended it since 1991 then no, it doesn't enter the equasion, but if you purchased it since the extension then yes, it could figure in the calculations.

Whether or not this would be sufficient to move you into the next band would all depend on how much value the extension added and whether or not that were enough to lift you into the next band. It all comes down to the value of the property at the time of valuation.

I hope that all makes sense!

Zebedeee

grace21

Hi Brightonbuoy,
Please look in your private messages. I hope it helps!! Finally have you thought of getting in touch with the local rag, if all else fails you have nothing to lose.
Keep in touch,
Grace.

JanetS_3

When I moved into this property some 12 years ago, I thought that the council tax banding was high. I got in touch with the valuation office and the date of a hearing was set, eventhough they told me there was no way they would reduced the bvanding, I did not attend as they gave me very little time and something happened which is why I didnt attend and they dismissed my enquiry. When I heard about reclaiming and rebanding I did everything that Martin said to do and found out that there was a property exactly the same as mine which is in a band lower, it also had a garden (I dont). I got in touch with the valuation office they came round said it was rather small (I am in a band D - I think it should be a band C) after 4 or 5 months they refused to reduce my banding saying that I had had a hearing which was dismissed because I didnt attend, I explained everything, they did not want to know, whenI asked about the other property they said that it had been lowered by mistake and they could not put it back to a band D. I got my local MP involved, he was helpful to a degree but did not push the matter hard enough. I have a SMALL two up two down property with no garden, there is a house opposite that is a three bedroomed property with a garden yet it is in the same banding as mine. I think East Herts Council or rather the valuation office, are out of order, they said that the threshold was over on the 1991 prices, I PROVED to them two houses (exacty the same as mine) sold for under the threshold in or around 1991 by obtaining two transfers for those properties, it made no difference, they refused to lower it. Another case of RIP OFF BRITAIN

vivatifosi

Hi Janet,

You are right, your situation is frustrating. There are many of us who post regularly on these boards who can recite a whole host of similar stories. It frustrates us to hear of someone who has really good primary evidence (as opposed to house price calculator data) still being given the brush-off. I don't think you should give up.

As soon as someone moves into one of the other houses that are the same as yours and in the same band, get them to appeal. If someone is new to the area and has been there less than six months, visit them today! If their case goes to tribunal (using your evidence) and they win, you will have a new, perfectly legal window of opportunity in which to appeal. But make sure you mention their successful tribunal in your initial contact after that point or they may still declare you invalid aarrrrggghhhh!!!!!

I don't know if it would achieve anything, but I would be inclined to put a Freedom of Information request into the VOA to find out on what evidence they won't re-band you and restate your original price data in the letter. You could also go back and lean on your MP to take the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman if once you have this data you feel the VOA is guilty of maladminstration through failing to maintain an accurate list even though they had adequate evidence to the contrary. Depends on how militant you're feeling! You may not get anywhere, but it would be fun trying!

Good luck!

SUGARSPICE

Hi

After phoning the VOA to ask if the rebanding can be looked into,I received a letter this morning to say that I should be in the Band that I am in,the one that it shows in the 1st step of Martins Guide.

It shows that Im in Band C but after working it all out it shows that I should be in Band B.

Band B £40,001-£52,000
Band C £52,001-£68,000

The letter says "Im satisfied that the value of your property,reflecting April 1991 levels of value,lies within the range £52,001 - £68,000 and that the current band of C is correct.But when I do it on Maritns it says that we should be Band B.

Im in a 1 bedroom flat but there are other flats in my block & a block next to us that are 2 Bedrooms & we are all in Band C.

Is this a letter where they are trying to get away with it as in the same way that the Banks have been doing or could it be that Im in the right Band but the other flats in my block & next door who are in two bedrooms should be paying more (Higher Band)?

Does anybody know?

Be good to hear from you.

Zebedeee

SUGARSPICE, when you say 'Im in Band C but after working it all out it shows that I should be in Band B' do you mean you have worked it out using the house price calculators? If so, you will need more than this to convince the VOA. You will need to collect evidence of actual prices from 1991. Providing your flats had been built by then you should be able to find details of the prices of some of the flats from that time by looking it up in your library in the property pages of your local newspaper.

It is quite possible to have properties of slightly differing values within the same band, as one may be at the top end of the band and the other at the bottom. You'll be able to tell more clearly which band you should be in when you get hold of some historical evidence.

Nobody said it would be easy!

HTH

Zebedeee

SUGARSPICE

Thank you Zebedee

1.So do I go to the Library for this & see what the prices were back in 1991? How else would I find this out if they didnt have the information?

2.Do you mean that if they werent built after 1991 then it cant be done?

3.Do you think the letter is to try to put me off?

4.When & if I find out that we should be in Band B do I write a letter explaining my evidence?

Much Appreciated,Thank you.