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

guppy

lincroft1710 wrote: »

guppy - you may be right but how do you know nobody has ever been fined.

The VOA have said so many times in the media (and on the website):

• The VOA powers on visits and inspections have not changed since council tax was introduced in 1993. The listing officers have had powers of entry for many years, as do many other statutory bodies, but they do not have, and never have had, powers to enter homes forcibly.

• No-one has ever been fined or prosecuted for refusing to allow a member of the VOA on to their property.

From: http://www.voa.gov.uk/TheFacts/council-tax-facts.htm

While individual liberties in this country are on the decline in my opinion, thankfully things haven't got that bad in terms of Council Tax.

murmeltier

guppy wrote: »

Just ask them to come in two or three weeks time because its more convenient for you.

No one has ever been fined under the legislation quoted above, and as long as you don't point blank refuse a visit, they will wait for you rather than estimate as described above. Good luck

They've agreed to our suggestion to see us next week ... the kitchen including pipework is gone, so hopefully they won't consider the annex a self-contained unit.

Do they typically indicate during the visit what their decision is going to be?

lincroft1710

murmeltier - it depends who is visiting. As I had the yea or nay about many decisions on CT in my office, if I knew it would be good news for taxpayer, I would say so. If I wasn't sure or didn't want a discussion/argument on the spot I would say that I wasn't certain and would have to consult with senior colleague. My junior colleagues were always taught to say that they are there to establish facts and report back to a senior colleague who will make the decision.

Silver_Sixty

My daughter has just bought a new build, one bedroom flat in a block of 21. She has been put in Band D, the same band as three and four bedroom houses. How can she challenge the band when the property was not built in 1991?

lincroft1710

Silver60 - she should look at bands of nearby 1 bed flats of similar spec and size as her own. If they're all D (doubtful) then her band prob OK, but if C or even B then she can ask why hers is in D. Although not the correct method of valuation (flats shoud be compared with other flats), how does her purchase price compare with recent selling prices of 3 and 4 bed Band D houses. This will show if band has been calculated by straight comparison with existing properties selling for same amount.

Silver_Sixty

All of those in her new- build block have been banded as D. I guess they have been done as a job lot! I will look at other properties not connected to this development.
Thank you

Sponge

I'd appreciate some comments/advice on my situation. With what I know, I don't think it's worth the risk of submitting a re-banding request.

There are 26 houses in my street. They're all terraced. Well, each side of the road has 3 blocks of terraced properties, so a handful are sort of the 'equivalent' of semi-detached (if that matters). Some are 3 bedroom, some are 2. Mine is a 2 bedroom. Some have bay windows, some don't. Mine doesn't.

All of the houses, including mine, are band B apart from 5 which are band A. According to the VOA website, these bands were effective from 01/04/1993. Does this mean they were re-banded on this date? Would it have been as a result of an owner 'complaint'? Can I use this information to support a re-banding of my house?

Viewing the band history for these properties states (if I'm reading the data correctly) that they were band B previously.

The band A properties are several doors away from me.

Nationwide valuation of my house:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Results:-
A property located in North West which was valued at £38000 in Q1 of 2001, would be worth approximately £31211 in Q2 of 1991. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is equivalent to a change of -17.86%.[/FONT]

This is band A according to MSE's table.

My house required substantial modernisation after I bought it in 2001. So I'm not sure if the price I paid then can be used to obtain an accurate valuation for 1991, as it's now 'better than it was'. Would the authorities insist on a 1991 valuation based on a more recent valuation? My house was valued (for re-mortgage purposes) at £133,000 in 2007.

Using the latest valuation:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Results:-
A property located in North West which was valued at £133000 in Q1 of 2007, would be worth approximately £48037 in Q2 of 1991. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is equivalent to a change of -63.88%.[/FONT]

Which is band B according to MSE's table.

My house has had the usual improvements, i.e. kitchen, bathroom, decorations, (all needed doing as the the house was a mess when I bought it back in 2001) but I have also made the loft into a storage area (it's not a converstion, but it does equate to an increase in floorspace). I don't know how, if at all, this would effect any valuation/banding.

I don't know how any of these facts would effect any valuation for 1991 and my case for rebanding.

guppy

Hello Sponge,

It sounds from the info you found on the website that all the houses were originally banded in B, but some sucessfully appealed and were reduced to A.

The fact that only some have been reduced suggests that the VOA may have reduced these on the grounds that they were unmodernised.

Judging by the price paid for yours, it might be possible to argue that your house should be treated the same as these. The fact you have improved it cannot be taken in to account until you sell the house, so in the meantime it should be valued as unmodernised, if you can prove this.

Finally, boarding the loft won't have added much value so I wouldn't worry about that.

lincroft1710

If a house is in a poor state of repair, then this cannot be reflected in its CT band. If you had to replace kit and bath fittings because they were broken/worn out then this would not count as modernisation, but repair. CT law says the band cannot be increased on account of improvements a current occupier has done.

The VOA would value your house as if it were in reasonable repair as at 1 April 1991, but would take account of its physical state (e.g. size) as at 1 April 1993 or if it is a later date, the date of last sale.

You have nothing to lose by seeking a band reduction, VOA can only say no.

ingenou

I have been living/working in the north for the last 4 years - still am. My 'home' is in the south and I come down when I can. It occurred to me that if our MPs are allowed to claim CT rebate for 'second homes' so should I! I don't live in it so it is not my PPR (primary personal residence). The CT bill information on exemptions makes no reference to a rebate for second homes and I always assumed that this was no longer available. I recently contacted the Council to ask about a rebate and after several weeks they answered my enquiry and confirmed that second homes did qualify for a rebate. However, they say I can only claim back for up to 3 months.

How can I dispute that? I believe they deliberately avoided putting this information on the bill or on their website. I should be able to claim back further than 3 months.

Does anyone have any ideas on the legal standing?