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

peteg2

Having got my council tax band reduced I noticed my water bills were based on a rateable value multiplier Since my council tax band was reduced and back dated does this mean the water company should re-calculate the rateable value back to the same time as the council tax revaluation and refund the over payment,or is the rateable value of my house used by the water company in their calculations set independently of the council tax banding?

lincroft1710

peteg2 wrote: »

Having got my council tax band reduced I noticed my water bills were based on a rateable value multiplier Since my council tax band was reduced and back dated does this mean the water company should re-calculate the rateable value back to the same time as the council tax revaluation and refund the over payment,or is the rateable value of my house used by the water company in their calculations set independently of the council tax banding?

Since 1990 there has been no way that the rateable values used by the water companies can be altered as the Act of Parliament allowing this was repealed. The RVs were primarily used for domestic rates, a predecessor of CT.

MAXCAT67

Hi
Sorry this is a bit of a rant ....
I have requested a review of my banding and it's been rejected.
The basis for my request was that my 4 bed integ garage (built 2001) house is in the same band as the much larger 5 bed double integ garage houses. They are also as you would expect more expensive properties than mine. In reviewing the estate I have also found slightly smaller properties that are on larger plots with double detached garages to be in Band D. I should also add that the development was banded "off plan" and that there were some errors. I am in Band E and live in an area of "regeneration" for want of a better word. What has also become quite apparent from my research is that houses built since 1995 get quite a rough deal with this system. I have discovered more expensive and larger older properties in a more affluent area of Nottingham are in lower bands.
I am interested to know the hierarchy in which they place the criteria - value, size of property, plot size, locality? In my case it is the size of the property as it would definately not have been worth in excess of £88k in 1991 (purchase price 2001 = £110k) but the VOA appear to believe it would - so why then is a property in a more expensive locality and of a higher purchase price in 2001 in Band C?
I am really sorry the government are not reviewing this system and would like to write to the minister in charge and my local MP (she's new so is likely to be looking for a crusade!) regarding my findings (lots more than noted here)
Does anyone here think I have a point?
I feel so annoyed that there are so many inconsistencies
Do the VOA use the same chrystal ball to value all properties?
Is Nottingham unique in that they assume properties in low value areas to be worth more/as much as than older properties in high value areas?
All opinions appreciated - thx

MAXCAT67

@ Tracerfire
I am in exactly the same position
My estate was valued off plan ... and I think the values are completely wrong
My house was £110k in 2001 yet because of the size they have put it in Band E!
The area is a poor one and this estate has the biggest houses in it - there is no way a property would have cost in excess of £88k in 1991!
I have done quite a bit of research on nethouse price.com and have found that older more expensive houses in more affluent areas are generally in much lower bands. New properties are treated very unfairly by this system - FACT

pbjackson

I bought my house new in 1987 for £47995 and in 1991 it was put in band e...but i appealed and they moved it to band d.
However, it should be in band c and I think I have read somewhere they can only move you back one band, is this true ?
2nd question, We sold the house in 2003 for £140,000...now taking both the purchase price and the selling price and using the national valuation calculator the 1991 value comes back to band c valuation. But can I claim even though I sold the house 7 years ago ?? How does any revaluation affect the people living there now ?

lincroft1710

pbjackson wrote: »

I bought my house new in 1987 for £47995 and in 1991 it was put in band e...but i appealed and they moved it to band d.
However, it should be in band c and I think I have read somewhere they can only move you back one band, is this true ?
2nd question, We sold the house in 2003 for £140,000...now taking both the purchase price and the selling price and using the national valuation calculator the 1991 value comes back to band c valuation. But can I claim even though I sold the house 7 years ago ?? How does any revaluation affect the people living there now ?

There is no limit by how many bands a CT band may be reduced or increased. As you are no longer the occupier you cannot ask for the band to be reviewed, you can only suggest to the current occupier that they ask for a review.

However as the band has already been agreed, it is extremely unlikely any further reduction would be forthcoming.

sec79

My house is band B. It was built around 1995. Similar houses are also in the same band. when I do the valuation check the price comes back under £40k, which means it should I believe be band A.

Mine is a 2 bed townhouse in a private estate surrounded by a large council estate. All the houses on the council estate are band A, and most of these are 3 bedroom semis. The selling prices of these are more than for sale prices for homes similar to mine are.

Is this strong enough reason to put forward to the valuations agency in order to challenge my current banding? Thanks

lincroft1710

sec79 wrote: »

My house is band B. It was built around 1995. Similar houses are also in the same band. when I do the valuation check the price comes back under £40k, which means it should I believe be band A.

Mine is a 2 bed townhouse in a private estate surrounded by a large council estate. All the houses on the council estate are band A, and most of these are 3 bedroom semis. The selling prices of these are more than for sale prices for homes similar to mine are.

Is this strong enough reason to put forward to the valuations agency in order to challenge my current banding? Thanks

Bearing in mind the house price indices are inaccurate and also price relativities in 1991 are not necessarily the same as today, Band B may be correct.

Although the reasons are not strong, they should be sufficient for the VOA to check your band.

Rugbynut_2

Hi Folks,

Looking for a bit of advice regarding my council tax banding. I have just been looking through Martins article and have done the valuation check which shows me as band C however all the houses in my street are band D or E.

The thing is i live in a 2 bed semi where as the majority of houses in the street are 3 or 4 beds with garages or driveways, neither of which i have.

Should i apply for a revaluation based on the fact my house is smaller than the others in the street? Obviously the other semi i am attached to is also listed as band D.

Any thoughts??

sandraroffey

my daughter phoned her valuation office last week. and she was flatly refused. here is the story. her house is a different, higher band to the house next door, on one side of her. the houses WERE exactly the same. however, just before she bought this house, the whole of the side garden, which is huge, had been sold off as a building plot.(not by her but by the developer who bought it before she did). so it is now the same as next door in relation to the actual house, but the garden is two thirds smaller.

now, the reasons they gave over the phone for refusing, are that Arun district council never rebands and is refusing everyone. plus, the new house that has been built on the plot that was her garden (before she bought the house)and which is within a metre of her property, is, apparently a Band A so hers will not be rebanded at all, mainly because the new house is a Band A. i think hers is a band B but the house the other side is a band C.

just spoken to my daughter and she says that she and the old neighbour are both band c. she was applying for the rebanding on the basis that 2 thirds of the garden has now gone. but they sasy no. especially as the new, huge, detached place on the other side of her, is a band A, the most expensive band in the universe.

the new house that is a band A is a completely different house all together so how can they say that?? its a big detached property, whereas hers is a reglar size, ex council house, semi detached. if what they are saying is correct, then surely the owner of the new detached house could go to the council and ask for a lower banding on the basis that their neighbours is a band B?????

any help here please.