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

DaveyCB

Lincroft,

The band was B and it has been changed to a D.

Thanks

lincroft1710

That's some increase!!! Has the flat been doubled in size? I would suggest you encourage present tenants to appeal asap.

ickle-squirt

Hi, I have just bought a new house on a brand new estate! I (and my neighbour) have been banded as a C, and feel we should be a B. However, we have no sales local sales to campare to. The Valuation Agency have told us that the Nationwide search is not a valid tool to prove that we are incorrecly banded. Can anyone help?????

misspig

Thanks to an anonymous letter I received today I have started looking into my council tax banding. The sender of the letter had researched the bands of houses in my estate and compared them with another local estate with identical houses and values, and advised that we (everyone in our estate) were a full band more in council tax. I was looking for some advice on this.
Our homes were built in 2004 and sold at £95000. We are in a band E. When I used the nationwide calculator thingy, our house would have a value of £47000 in 1991 (which would make it a band but obviously as they weren't built then the 1991 calculator value wouldn't apply?
The other estate is in a different LA area, but was built in same year and sold at same prices exact same houses. They are all a band D.
Can I challenge the council tax banding using this information? or will the fact that the other estate is under another LA make a difference.

lincroft1710

Misspig - as the other houses are several miles away they are not a good comparison. Is the 2004 price of £95K for a full share in the property or just half share? If it is for half share then price calculator (which are inaccurate) will give you completely wrong answer. If it is for a full share then something is definitely not right.

CT is based on 1991 value of a property, try to find if similar houses nearby have lower bands. You will need evidence to persuade Valuation Office Agency that band is wrong.

lincroft1710

Ickle squirt - if you think you should be a band lower because you know of similar nearby properties in Band B, then you can use this info. In any case look at bands of similar properties nearby, this will give you an idea if your theory is correct or not.

bettydaviseyes

In July I received a letter from the Valuation Office saying that I was rebanded from Band F to Band E. I heard nothing from the council so rang them and they told me I have to keep paying band F until they inform me otherwise - which would be about 3 months!! (was told its the same with the rebate)

Surely this can't be right - how long have others waited.

lincroft1710

Bettydaviseyes - that does seem a long wait, most councils sort out payments/rebate within 6 wks. Ask your local councillor to have a word with them, it may well result in more immediate action.

Electric_Monk

Hi all,

I have a quick query, for a while I've been wondering about my band, and although I moved into the house 2.5 years ago I wonder if something could still be done.

Basically, it's a house on the edge of the southside of Glasgow. It was built in 1996, and I'm not sure what was there before, but it may have simply been park, or older flats. I'm in band C, which isn't too high, but I know that half of my culdesac is band C, the other half band B. On one side of my house the neighbours are B, the other C, so me being C means I'm right on the edge of the 'B' side of things, but not in it.

Using the calculator site, it appears I'm right at the low end of band C, but obviously it's just an approximation and not particularly trustworthy.

Since it's a close call, is it worth it for me to request a reevaluation? I assume I'd need to kick up a fuss since it's over 6 months since I moved in, and I'm not sure how worthwhile it is (and am terrified of being put up a band).

Is it worth me trying? Thanks!

lincroft1710

Are both your neighbours' houses exactly the same as yours?

If they are it may be worth contacting Assessor and asking why the difference in bands, worst that can happen would be the Band Bs increased to C.