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

hypno06

Thank you - we have checked and they have always been band D, rather than reassessed. I had a quick chat with the original owner and she didn't think anything of it - just accepted what she was told, which is what most of us do most of the time I suppose!

Obviously, if I am successful with my claim, she will be after hers too - perhaps I should charge her a commission for having brought it to her attention :cool:

smartie1947

I followed Martin's advice re claiming change of banding. Circs were that I have resided in property since 1995 and I thought Council Tax Band should have been B rather than C.( Nationwide BS figures backed this up.)
Local assessor ( Fife Council) states that appeal is invalid as it is out of date. They state that any appeal has to be made within 6 months of taking up residency in the property.They quote The Council Tax (Alteration of Lists and Appeals)(Scotland) Regulations 1993 as their authority.
As this flies in the face of the whole of this thread, ie being able to claim back several years tax difference, can anyone advise me how to proceed.It may be that Scottish legislation is different to that in England.
Many thanks in advance to any who respond.

System

I know Lincroft is an expert in this area - but

1) There is definitely a six month limit in England as far as you can only go to a tribunal if you appealed within six months of moving in

2) The Nationwide Indexes are not recognised by the listing officer as they are claimed to be too generic. You need to base your case on properties in you area to demonstate that similar values of property are in a lower band etc.

lincroft1710

HertsSaver's post is spot on, check bands of similar neighbouring properties. From what I've heard from posters in Scotland, Assessors tend to take a hard line, so you'll have to stand your ground.

System

Well, after 4 weeks and 3 days, the verdict finally came through the post and the tribunal went in my favour, so that is a reduction from Band E to Band D. When I have cooled down, I will post a more detailed synopsis of the case.

In summary the tribunal favoured my evidence as
a) the very limited examples of properties in Band E were clearly not comparable
b) I offered many examples of flats bigger and more expensive than mine in Band D.

More than happy to answer any qs on here

bandit46

Hi.

We moved into our house in 96, which cost £82,000 & was band E. The previous owners built a bugalow in the bottom half of the garden & the property wasn't revalued at the time. Band E seemed a little steep at the time in comparison with other nearby properties, but we were put off appealing by VOA. Ours is a non estate house, but a house in a nearby road, which is similar to our house has been rebanded as a C.

Since moving in we've made a no. of improvements & I was wondering whether these would be taken into acount or would the valuation be on the basis of the property when we moved in 96.

Also, is there a way we can obtain details of appeals made by others in the past when they've successfully appealed.

Apologies if this is a little coarse, but I've never posted on a forum before.

System

From my experience having a tribunal find in my favour

- what improvements have you made?
- for the house nearby it is worth getting context on the prices Zoopla goes back to 1995 so you may be able to show the similar houses were selling for more or the same as your
- www.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk under Listings and decisions has a database of past decisions (it is a little wieldy!)

Lynn.A.

Hi everyone, I hope someone may help, Ive only just joined so please bear with me!

I challenged my council tax banding as I was borderline on valuation prices for the bands in 1991, and my neighbours in exactly the same design houses are 1 band lower than me, but one house is 2 bands lower, a definite mistake by the VOA!

Today i received my reply....Rejected! They believe I am in the correct band and 'have taken into account, size, layout and character of the property', but said they will 'consider whether the bandings of other properties need to be increased.'

The also said I have 'no right to appeal against the review' and I didnt not have a 'valid' reason to a tribunal.

I have a 3 bed detached house in Band D, my neighbours have exactly the same design houses, they are band C, but I do not know how many bedrooms they have, as the houses could have had a layout change upstairs to accomodate a 4th bedroom at the bulid stage. So it may be that 4 bed houses are in a lower banding, I feel ripped off!! As stated earlier 1 house is in Band B, something went wrong somewhere!!!!

Is there anything further i can do? Can I appeal, or is that it?
Many thanks

lincroft1710

Lynn A - it seems they believe your band is the correct one and it is the neighbours' bands that are incorrect. Unfortunately not unusual. Certainly the Band B is wrong, whether they will increase the Band C remains to be seen.

If you've been in the house longer than 6 months, then there is no right of appeal. I can only suggest that you look at other similar detached houses in the area and check their bands on VOA website. This should give you an idea if your band is in fact correct or not. Obviously if the houses you find are in Band C, get back to VOA. If you still thik you're being short changed, you can write to VOA Customer Service Manager or even your MP.

At one time we (I'm ex VOA) would give more detailed reasoning, quoting things like "similar size nearby det houses selling for £72K to £75K in 91". But because of volume of band queries generated by MSE, VOA no longer have resources to do this.

lincroft1710

Bandit 46 - further to HertsSaver's advice I would also add that although it depends where you live, house prices generally were still below 1991 levels in 1996, some areas and house types achieved 91 levels in 97, others in 98. So based on 96 purchase price band may be right. This is not a perfect method of valuation as it is 1991 prices that are used as evidence for finding correct band.

I don't see your house as a Band C so ask VOA why this other house was rebanded as a C. If it was as a result of a Valuation Tribunal decision issued less than 6 months ago, then you may be able to appeal quoting this as a "relevant decision", unless reduction was for proximity to a pub, or other disability which your house doesn't suffer from.