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

lincroft1710

George_Bray wrote: »

As I said, the poor condition would affect the house value at today's prices by an estimated £30K and the relative condition was similar in 1991. So if recent sales down the road have been for around £230K at 2010 prices, one could input £200K to obtain a 1991 equivalent price. Would they accept that?

It is certainly worth trying. Some VOA caseworkers are more understanding/generous than others, so you could get a reduction. You should emphasise that it is in need of modernisation rather than repair, as the mention of repair gives them an excuse to say no.

lincroft1710

sweetnatalie wrote: »

Any idea where i can go from here. I so dont get that the whole street and identical properties are a whole band lower. Mum is a pensioner and struggling as it is to pay her bills.
Any ideas would be great. Can i find out exactly previous valuations of the property anywhere?
Many thanks for anyones advice:beer:

You could ask them why they believe hers should be 1 band higher than other bungalows in the street and if you are not satisfied by the answer you could involve your MP, but there is no guarantee he/she would get a result.

Depending on her income and savings your mother may be entitled to CT benefit.

Apart from the Land Registry the only organisation which has details of all property sales is the VOA and they can only divulge these details when a valid appeal is made. House price calculators are at best only approximate and at worst inaccurate.

hueknight1969

Hi

To be honest im not very good when it comes to writing letters and things! and have been looking for a template letter to challenge my council tax. Could any one help. iv looked and searched thru this huge thread to no avail.

thanks

hugh

lincroft1710

hueknight1969 wrote: »

Hi

To be honest im not very good when it comes to writing letters and things! and have been looking for a template letter to challenge my council tax. Could any one help. iv looked and searched thru this huge thread to no avail.

thanks

hugh

Unless you are within the 6 month time limit (when you can just complete a form online) you need to provide reasons why you believe your CT band is incorrect or you will just get a standard brush off.

If you already have reasons, you don't need to write anything complicated, just :

"I believe my house is in the wrong Council Tax band because....

I would be grateful if you would look into this and reduce the band accordingly"

27ogs

I have a 3 bedroom semi-detached house, currently in Band F.

The house attached to mine has 4 bedrooms and is in Band E. Another neighbour, 2 doors away has a detached 4 bedroom house, also in Band E.

Both of these properties were altered before 1991. Do I have a case for appeal?

pollyzanna

We are appealing - just had acknowledgement letter of query which just says they will review it and write with a decision within 2 months.

We bought our band C house for 51k in 1999 and as Band C starts at 52k, that doesn't really make sense and so we are arguing that we should be in Band B.

If nothing happens I guess we won't be worse off and at least we will have tried!

lincroft1710

27ogs wrote: »

I have a 3 bedroom semi-detached house, currently in Band F.

The house attached to mine has 4 bedrooms and is in Band E. Another neighbour, 2 doors away has a detached 4 bedroom house, also in Band E.

Both of these properties were altered before 1991. Do I have a case for appeal?

Although it looks as if your home is in the wrong band, both of your neighbours' bands could be too low!

mitty1966

sandraroffey wrote: »

re: my previous post yesterday at 9.23 am (does that make it easier to find??) can anyone tell me if losing two thirds of your garden and having a humungous built within a metre of your property, is grounds for a rebanding?? they have flatly refused her, but mostly on the fact that the new house is already in a higher band; but the new house is completely different and bigger. and also on the grounds that the council 'doesnt do' rebanding.

ANYTHING that previous owners did that effects the value of the property causing value to go up or down can alter the banding and be subject to appeal,my double garage doors was changed to patio doors therefore it is classed has having no garage at all ,so classed has a loss of value that was the reason for my appeal which was accepted going to v.t soon,i think you got every reason to appeal,good luck but be warned they try everything to convince you they are right ,stick to your guns its game on.

Annielou

Could anybody please help me? I've followed Martin's advice about checking out my house valuation for now and for 1991 (both results say I should be in a lower band), but my neighbours in exactly the same house as mine are in the same band as me. Martin's article says that its "not worth the risk" of appealing in that case. But the house valuation quite clearly puts us all in the wrong band. A point to note is that our houses do look bigger on the outside than they actually are inside. Should I query this? Martin advises not to, but I'm thinking that the worst that could possibly happen is that me and my neighbours just remain in the current band, as the price valuation is a v long way from the price border for the next band up. I'm thinking nothing to lose and lots to gain, but I would be grateful for any advice. Thanks in advance!

Premier_2

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Although it looks as if your home is in the wrong band, both of your neighbours' bands could be too low!

That is more than likely the situation. The poster says the properties were modified.

As the valuations were typically done in a 'drive by' manner (or possibly using even cruder techniques), then any modifications/improvements were probably not observed.