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

LittleEmms

Thanks guys:beer:

Right here goes - firstly I bought mine in June 2004 - 50% share at £65,000 (Therefore full value £130,000) - yes for a one bed (I live in outer London).

Neighbours with 2 bed, bought in July 2005 - 50% share at £97,000 (full value at £195,000). Also both websites say its a flat when I know for a fact (I've climbed their stairs enough times) that its a house!!

In relation to this one of the 1 beds similar to mine but in fantastic condition and extra feature* was sold April 2005 for £141,000 (full value).

The price of the 3 bed, sold in August 2006, was £239,950 (full value).


*Extra feature - I have a back garden, but you have to leave my house out the front door and go to the side gate to access garden. The house I mention above has french doors direct into back garden (I have a bay window) ooo and a spanking new kitchen!!

Any thoughts my lovely people?

lincroft1710

I think there was shared ownership in 1991, but it was not common. The prices LittleEmms quote would suggest that 1 beds and 2 beds should NOT be in same band. I think it's still worth checking what non shared ownership 1 bed were selling for in '91. The only trouble with quoting 95 and later evidence is that VOA may just ignore it, claiming it's irrelevant as not 91.

LittleEmms

Do you think it might be worth me contacting the housing association? See if they hold values for back then? As I doubt very much there will be evidence of sales of shared ownership in local papers back then? The whole premise was to provide to people on waiting lists first, then sell share on open market if no buyers?

Or shall I still look for evidence of one beds selling locally at that time (full price?)

Sorry to keep asking questions – as usual I don’t have a typical case!! :rolleyes:

vivatifosi

That's a really good idea and one I hadn't heard before. It needs to be from 1991 though, ideally around April though that isn't always possible. It should also be for a comparable area. You'll also need to get it in writing.

One beds selling locally would also be good, so again worth looking in the papers if you can face the visit to the library.

lincroft1710

There should be 1991 sales evidence of 1 bed non HA houses in your area which would at least give you a start. HA built housing tends to achieve less on open market than private, but not always the case. If you can get 94/95 price info from HA, please post it and I'll give you my opinion.

bootman

When Martin first brought this issue of wrong banding up years ago I did have someone come out and measure up if you like. The person doing this felt i was a band too high. I am a 3 bed house amongst 4 other 5 bed houses and I am in the same band. I am in quite a nice pocket in the village and there is nothing around me similar. It is quite a big 3 bed house.

However when the letter came from the office some time later they said they had reviewed my case and were leaving me where I was. Probably because there just is not anything around me to compare to.

I left it there, I thought I could not really do any more.

I have just followed Martins step by step guide on calculating what the house price would have been in 91 as my house was built in 94. It does indeed put me in the band below.

Do you think I have any chance of being able to bring this up again?

I have lived in this house just over 5 years, it must have been well over 3 years ago I asked before.

Many thanks for any advice, by the way I am in a band G which is outrageous and costing me £225 a month!

pdo

I recently queried my banding (e) as I bought my property for £68k back in 1994 so thought that I would have a good chance of having it re banded to either (c) or (d) and receiving a nice refund just in time for Xmas:beer: . Silly me, I have just received a reply telling me that as my property had been neglected by the previous owner (a very elderly man) the value was not in line with the housing market price at that time. Isn't the value of a property only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it

I was also told that a similar property in my road sold for more that £42k more than mine.

Has anybody any ideas as to what my next move should be:mad:

Thanks very much

lincroft1710

bootman - In England, Band G has a very wide span £160K - £320K so not impossible if good area to have 3, 4 and 5 bed in same band. It's still worth pursuing, as you will read from posts on this forum, but of course no guarantees.

pdo - Council Tax law says that a dwelling is presumed to be in good repair, so if the sale price reflected its poor repair, it's either ignored or "adjusted" to take into account cost of repairs. In the part of country I dealt with 94 prices were about 20/25% below those of 91, so £68K + 20% = £81K + 10%(say) for repairs = £89K, just into Band E. If VOA have details of 91 sale of similar house at £110K, then you have no chance. You could try and find out more about this comparable, see if it had been extended prior to sale.

pdo

Thanks very much for your response.

Do you think that I should perhaps check on a bungalow down the road to me which is exactly the same as mine which is banded (d) or do you feel that it would not make any difference?

Regards

lincroft1710

pdo - DEFINITELY check, it may be underbanded, but then again it may not.