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

vivatifosi

Hi Little Ems, don't start with the nationwide calculator as it will be ignored. Its well worth spending a little bit of time getting prices up front. Look at papers from the end of 1990 as well as those from early 1991 as they are the ones that are likely to have been at completion state at or around the AVD date (from which council tax values are taken) of 1 April 1991. Also, don't forget that asking prices were not generally obtained then.

LittleEmms

Thanks Vivatifosi - Lunchtime, I'm off to the library!!!


Is it worth printing off the VOA website proof that the other addresses down my road which are two bedrooms are a band C?? And should I send in evidence of mine being a one bed (still have a copy of my mortgage valuation, or can get details of lease or something)??

Sorry for 100 questions!!

exvoperson

Dear Lincroft Vivatifosi and other

Sorry I have not been able to help recently with replies to questions. Just been too busy.

On the question of VT bias I have always found them to be very impartial. The VOA normally win the case because they have the better evidence and are better prepared. If the ratepayer puts forward a good case and the decision is borderline then the VT will side with the ratepayer but that is general taxation policy. I have recently sat in on VT cases where the ratepayer has lost simply because they were poorly prepared or didn't fully understand what was being asked of them. The VT will help them out as much as they can but there is a limit as to what they can do. On the other hand the VT expect the VOA to be professional and know the rules so they will give them much less leeway.

On the issue of 1995 -2000 sales evidence being available on line I think this is excellent news. In this area I know that 1991 vales are about the same as 1996 values and so intend to use this new evidence.

It does raise the very important question of whether 1990-1995 sales should be available. Unless anyone else has already done it I will contact the FOI commissioner to see what he says.

I will write later on an interesting invalid VT hearing i just won!!

All the best
ExVOperson

lincroft1710

LittleEmms - Just mention the fact that (e.g.) Nos. 1 -10 are 2 bed and in Band C and you are 1 bed. I presume yours was purpose built as 1 bed and not converted from 2 bed, which if is the case should be mentioned. Depending on part of country or the development where you live, it is not impossible for a 1 bed to be correctly in Band C as well as 2 beds. In the average/good areas where I dealt with CT bands, 1 bed were B, 2 bed B/C. The most expensive areas had 1 bed in C, 2 beds in C/D. It is definitely worth checking though. One thing we found - after early/mid 90s house price slump, 1 beds took longer to reach 91 price levels than bigger properties.

exvoperson - we found properties in our area tended to reach 91 levels by 97/8 rather than 96, which is when ours started to increase. I can only repeat that my experience of VTs leads me to my opinion, although perhaps some of the "culprits" have now retired/passed on. But I wholeheartedly agree about the standard of case presentation, sometimes tax/ratepayer lost case rather than VOA won it. Look forward to reading about Invalid VT appeal.

webtalk

Hi there,

This question may have been answered earlier but ...

Is it still possible to challenge Council Tax bandings if the property was bought in 1998?

Thanks

lincroft1710

Yes - you can query band with Valuation Office Agency, but if they say band is correct, you will not normally have a right to a hearing by the independent Valuation Tribunal. Have a read of some of the previous posts on this topic - very useful info.

LittleEmms

Hi Lincroft,

Yes property was purpose built as one bed starter home. What i did notice on the VOA website is that over the road - the two beds are C, and the last few 3 beds are D banding. Even more so I thought mine is incorrectly banded!

Thanks for your reply. I realised I couldn't go to library at lunchtime - as my library near work is for a different borough and wouldn't have the right archived local papers:doh:
Thanks for your reply - much appreciated!! :beer:

mollythelolly

Thank you for the advice. The letter which looks like a standard one says that I cant appeal it - where would I go from here?

lincroft1710

molly - you can write to your MP, give him all the facts and tell him you don't believe the VOA have properly investigated the band of your parents' house. MP will write to VOA who will usually check band again and reply to MP in double quick time.

angibaby02

hey guys total newbie so pleeease help.
wrexham county council - i challenged my banding and had my house rebanded to a c from a d from apr 2005, based on it's value in 2003. i then asked for a review of the previous banding and had a response saying that the previous banding was correct. no right of appeal. surely there is an ombudsman or something? there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to presume that the house should have been in a higher band previously to 2005. no structural changes etc. and less than 1% of houses were rebanded down in wrexham during the 2005 review of banding. so frustrating .they even say that as the information is based on records pre- 2000, the freedom of info act doesn't apply and they don't even have to give me a reason. "it is because they say it is" AAAARGGH!!!