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

lincroft1710

mttylad - on Council Tax aspect, bands are based on a dwelling's value as at 1 Apr 1991 (England and Scotland) or 1 April 2003 (Wales). So your home would be valued primarily as a terraced dwelling of X sq m, comprising Y rooms on GF and FF plus attic room(s). It is the overall size of the dwelling rather than number of rooms which is the major factor.

It's up to you what you use the rooms in your house for, it won't affect CT band. I can't comment on what usage would or would not accord with building regs.

lincroft1710

cestlavie - if all 4 houses are exactly the same, probability is that your parents' band is wrong rather than other 3 are wrong, so worth challenging band.

cestlavie

thanks so much for your reply. yes i guess they have nothing to lose as the council can't charge them anymore! i too wondered if maybe bedrooms were a factor as most of the old houses in the close are probably 3 or 4 beds. my parents house is a 4 small beds, but the other 3 houses built at the same time as theirs are 5 bed. i wondered if the council had lumped them in with the "size" of the other 3 new houses. i understand from above this is not so, which is a shame as i thought maybe that could be my argument! i have noted suggestion re microfiche and will pop along to my library to find house values for 1991. (perhaps i can even find out what price the actual house that was on the land that now has 4 houses on it went for.) it just strikes me as really odd that they are paying 500 quid a year more than a slightly older house opposite them and next door to them. they are both pensioners and can ill-afford it so i am game to pursue every option. pleased to hear that even though they have been there for ten years they can still appeal. (this site is marvellous...)

lincroft1710

cestlavie - strictly speaking your parents cannot "appeal", they can only ask for review of band, an appeal needs to be made within 6 months of first becoming occupier. Disadvantage in not being able to appeal is that if it is decided band is correct, your parents cannot have case determined by Valuation Tribunal,

Rolandtheroadie

This has probably been answered but with nearly 3000 posts, i'll ask again.

There are 22 houses in my street. All are 3 bed semi detached. There are 2 different layouts of rooms, but all are essentially the same. 1/3 of them are in band A and 2/3 are band B. There is no pattern to the banding. Most houses in the street should have been band b's due to backdated valuations but theres also two or three that would have valued as band A.
Should I brass my case?

bootman

I am 1 of 5 houses on a small courtyard development in a village. I am the smallest of the 5. I am a 3 beds the others are 5 beds and have a study study.

I am banded the same as them. Sounds obvious that it is wrong but the houses were built in 1994 and there is nothing else in the village like it to do a comparison.

Today however I have found out that in the next village 3 miles away under the same authority the local builder built 2 houses the same as mine and they stand together with no bigger ones. They are band F and I am band G.

My question I guess, can I use these 2 houses as my comparison to the valuation office. They are identical, even though they are in a different village.

lincroft1710

bootman - yes, unless houses in your village are far more expensive than those in the other village. It's not a cast iron case, but certainly worth a try.

lincroft1710

scotsman - no knowing whether A or B correct, so worst that can happen would be As increased to Bs.

JayZed

We had the man from the VOA round last week to look at our flat following our challenge... now just crossing our fingers and wondering how long it will take before they make a decision. Especially as we've just seen our extortionate CT bill for 2009-10.

BigNige

Hi

Was wondering if anyone could help with a question I have on council tax revaluation

My girlfriend has just received her council tax bill and she is down as Band E. I have read the very useful article on MSE on how to check if you are in the wrong band and I have discovered the following

1. Pretty much all of her neighbours on her road, whether they are 2 bedroom flats or 3 bedroom houses are in the same band. I think they have made a mistake across a lot of houses

2. I checked using the Nationwide valuation and found out that her flat's valuation in 1991 was around £5,000 to £6,000 within the lower band (D) and quite a few others are the same.

Yet the article says if the neighbour test fails but the valuation test passes "it isnt worth the risk". I cant see that she has anything to lose as the value of her flat is not big enough for Band F, but am I missing something? She also doesn't want to be the cause of quite a few other people having their properties' revalued

Any help would be appreciated!

:rotfl: