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

Bentley_Boys_UK

Can you claim a rebate on a previous house ? We moved house in 2001 and have just found that the new occupier has successfully appealled and had the property reduced from band E to D. So would I be able to claim a rebate the council tax I paid between 1993 and 2001.

Sorry if this has already been posted, I just couldn't find anything.

Thanks

Zebedeee

Bentley_Boys_UK wrote: »

Can you claim a rebate on a previous house ? We moved house in 2001 and have just found that the new occupier has successfully appealled and had the property reduced from band E to D. So would I be able to claim a rebate the council tax I paid between 1993 and 2001.

Sorry if this has already been posted, I just couldn't find anything.

Thanks

You might be able to get a refund on the back of the new occupiers successful rebanding. It all depends on when the rebanding dates from - if it has been rebanded back to 1991 then you will, if not and the rebanding date is from when the new folks moved in then probably not. Having said that, it wouldn't hurt to ask. Give the council tax department of your council a ring and see what they will do for you.

HTH!

LunarTick_2

Hi Vivatifosi
Thanks for your reply; it gives more avenues to explore but also poses some more questions.

Despite the fact that no changes have been made to either of their homes the Listing office has re-banded both of my neighbours, one from D to E and the other from D to G as a result of my challenge to have my listing reviewed.

As one of my neighbours’ have lived in their house for many years they do have first hand knowledge of some of its history, and it has not materially changed since 1991, a fact substantiated by our landlords estate manager.

Question 1
The VOA website indicates the new bandings for my neighbours properties come into force today, as no relevant transaction has taken place will my neighbours, who like me, rent their home from the same landlord have to pay the increased Council Tax charges.

This evening I spoke with my other neighbours concerning their listed property, which is currently for sale, and their records indicate there have been no changes requiring planning permission since 1991, again this fact has been verified by the previous owners with whom I still have contact.

Question 2
If the sale of their house succeeds will the new owners be required to pay the increased Council Tax despite the house being materially the same now as in 1991?

Zebedeee

Hi LunarTick,

As Vivatifosi says, the VOA are free to change bands up and down as they see fit, based on how they feel the house would have been valued in 1991. The onus seems to lie with us, the home owners/occupiers to provide any evidence to the contrary to effect a downwards rebanding.

If the house to which you refer is sold the new owners have 6 months to request a review of their band, but they will have to find evidence supporting their assertation that the property was valued lower than the VOA say. It is important to act within this 6 month window, as it gets much trickier after that!

Sigh

Hi.
We feel we might be entitled to a council tax refund but am finding it difficult to see how to go about it.
Our property is not 'a traditional build' eg constructed with bricks. It is a timber/roughcast building. We didn't realise unitl buying it in 1987/88 that it would prove difficult to get a mortgage and It and it's kind are always valued lower by thousands of pounds in comparison to brick built properties. We love it though.
We have a semi-detactched bungalow and whilst I have managed to find that the properties either side-one detached-are in the same band as us, a neighbour next door but 1, with a similar contructed but detached property, is in a lower band.
How do I go about claiming?
I would be so grateful for any advice.

Reards.Sigh

supersezzie

Hi, I just wondered if any of you knowledgable folk can advise me as well..I have put in an appeal for rebanding and there is a hearing coming up in May...the only problem is, a woman came round to measure our flat and said we are pretty much guaranteed to stay in a band D, and though some flats in our block are band B/C, they are much smaller. Also, she said that the Nationwide valuations weren't accurate as it is based on the value of properties nationwide and not specific to the area. I still feel hard done by as I paid less council tax in a massive luxury flat in Nottingham and this one is much smaller and very basic in comparison, and yet I am paying more. I think it is the location because it is by the docks on the south coast, but even the woman at the council said the band seemed very high as we are only a couple (there is a second bedroom but it's small).

Does anyone know of anything I can do to argue my case or is this a lost cause? Also, how would you recommend I represent myself? I cannot make it to the hearing, but it seems to say I can send a letter, or ask someone to represent me.

Any advice would be welcome, thank you!

LunarTick_2

The Listing Office has now written to me confirming that my valuation banding will not change, and as I previously mentioned the two properties I used as evidence for my valuation challenge have both had their bandings increased.

As from 21-4-2008 my immediate neighbours listing has increased from D to E the same as me and my other neighbour has increased from D to G, (better watch my back now) this is despite the fact that no changes have been made since 1991 that could have altered the first valuation listing.

It is more than likely that the valuation listing for the larger of the two houses was listed incorrectly in 1991 and this has now been corrected, but I’m unsure of the “legality” of the re-banding considering no material changes have been made to the house. Under such circumstances would a tribunal be likely to overturn the current re-banding.

Should I be able to persuade my immediate neighbour to now challenge the new valuation listing, and go to a Tribunal if necessary, on what grounds would the challenge be based? And would it be appropriate to make this challenge via the VOA website form in the first instance?

Any guidance you could give on this would be much appreciated.

vivatifosi

Hi LunarTick,

Your neighbour should have a right to a tribunal if they appeal within six months of their band being raised, so I would persuade them to get on to this now.

In terms of what they want, I would suggest that they write to the VOA under the Freedom of Information Act and request information as to how the rebanding was arrived at and the history of the house and the original banding (there is advice on this if you read back further into the thread about 5-6 pages back from here should do the trick, in particular exvoperson has written about how to write up a challenge).

I really think you need to get this as the starting point. And you should get it back within 1 month. From there your neighbour will be in a better position to pull together their evidence for Tribunal. What you don't want to do is start by using the house price calculators as these only give an approximation. The next step will be to get local agent feedback, info from long term residents from the time and sales evidence from your neighbours and/or the local newspapers. However speak to the neighbour first, get the FOI request in, see what comes back and then post again, and we can take it from there in more full knowledge of the situation.

tramway_2

Hi,
There are about 20 odd houses in our street all detached either 4 bed with integrated single garage or 4 bed with separate double garage but we are all in the same band F.
Can this be right as they are obviously different size houses? Even the gardens are bigger in the double separate garage houses.
Checked all the houses on the VOA site and nobody has challenged it so far. The houses are about 11 years old give or take.

Thanks

vivatifosi

Hi tramway,

The issue with all bands is that they have to start and finish somewhere. As a result it isn't uncommon to find different types of houses on the same estate in the same band. Where I live two bed terraced houses are in the same band as three bed semis.

The issue is what your house would have been worth had it been built in 1991. Go back through this thread and read up on how to get evidence on this. But be warned, because all houses are in the same band it is likely to be a tough call.

Also, the fact that there's nothing on the website doesn't mean that there hasn't been any challenge to a band, it means that there hasn't been a successful challenge to a band, and for that matter that there hasn't been an unsuccessful case that has been confirmed at tribunal. I was surprised where I live to find that there had been many other challenges made than just those shown on the web.

Given that all houses are banded uniformly, you stand a much better chance of getting this looked at if you have moved in within the last six months. If you haven't, your best bet may be worth talking to your neighbours, finding out if any of them have made a challenge in the past and getting a bit of history before getting started.