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

lincroft1710

neustift - £30K is a very low price for 2003. Are these flats part rent/part buy. You should still ask Assessor for a rebanding, as something doesn't seem quite right.

neustift

lincroft1710 wrote: »

neustift - £30K is a very low price for 2003. Are these flats part rent/part buy. You should still ask Assessor for a rebanding, as something doesn't seem quite right.

Yes 30,000 appears correct. A friend 1 street along got a flat for 32,000 in 2003 and they are band A.

Thanks

slewrings

I note comments re rebanding. My problem is that my Council tax "contribution" has gone up from an acceptable £300pa to over £850 because my bedsit of 12m2 is now classified as a flat worth £40 000 the same as the others in my block of 36m2+. This is the minimum that "A" banding allows-any tips on how I overcome this totally stupid abitrary bureaucratic decision?

lincroft1710

Band A covers dwellings worth up to £40K as at 1 Apr 1991.

Does your bedsit share any facilities (other than communal hallways, stairs etc) with any other flat or bedsit in the block, e.g. toilet or bath or kitchen?

slewrings

my problem is one of the council deciding to rate the flats at my address individually with the result that each of 3 units has been put into band A at £40 000 bumping up my council tax contribution from £300 to £850+ for a 12m2 bedsit, the same as the other 36m2 flats! I feel a serious injustice has been done to me by bureaucratic meddling hell bent on increasing tax revenue. Has anyone had similar experiences and found a successful means of overcoming this problem?

slewrings

thankyou lincroft1710, no my bedsit is a self contained unit. To you and other readers I've posted 2 messages on the same subject; I couldn't find my original: Newbie that I am!

lincroft1710

slewrings - if your bedsit is self contained then banding it as a separate dwelling at Band A is correct in law and there is no point in challenging it.

I presume you are the sole adult occupier of the bedsit so you should be receiving 25% discount off your CT bill. You may be entitled to other benefits if you are on a low income, either go to your council's website or contact them directly.

slewrings

Thankyou lincroft1710. I was ok with £300 CT, but because of the stupid bureaucratic meddling forcing me into a nonsensical re-valuation at £850+ despite single occupancy discount i am being forced into applying for CT benefit from which i will probably get benefit in full; resulting in my winning(I hope) & the council losing( Insh Allah as my muslim friends would say!) Doth I protesteth too much- no- I hate bureaucracy. watch this space.

slewrings

re the law & Band A, there should be banding <A; yet another example of the law being an !!!!

lincroft1710

It is not "bureaucratic meddling", if your bedsit has always been selfcontained then it should have been a Band A from day 1.