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

Premier_2

Annielou wrote: »

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!

If you have an official valuation report of your property dated at the time the council tax band vaulatuions were applied, then if you are in the wrong band I would certainly complain.

What I wonder though is why you have waited almost 20 years to do so. :huh: You would have been advised of the council tax banding, and hence the valuation it was considered to be, when the council tax was first introduced (assuming you owned the property back then)

If you didn't own the property, I'm not sure how/why you would have a valuation report dated then.
Any 'generalised' report would be probably as (in)accurate as that which the council tax people use.

MAXCAT67

Hi Sheeps68 - my house was built in 2001 and I do not agree with the valuation of my property
I have done a lot of research in the Nottingham area and so far have found that you can have have a larger house in an affluent area in a lower band than a smaller new build in a not so affluent area.
Bizarre! However my next step is the library to look up the property paper supplements of 1991 that come with our local paper. The librarian has confirmed that they have them.

lincroft1710

Premier wrote: »

If you have an official valuation report of your property dated at the time the council tax band vaulatuions were applied, then if you are in the wrong band I would certainly complain.

What I wonder though is why you have waited almost 20 years to do so. :huh: You would have been advised of the council tax banding, and hence the valuation it was considered to be, when the council tax was first introduced (assuming you owned the property back then)

If you didn't own the property, I'm not sure how/why you would have a valuation report dated then.
Any 'generalised' report would be probably as (in)accurate as that which the council tax people use.

The "house valuation" was probably calculated by OP using a house price calculator. I'm ex VOA and found these inaccurate. The VOA have details of virtually all property sales going back well before 1991 and bandings were done based on actual sale prices of comparable properties.

lincroft1710

Annielou wrote: »

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. 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.

House price calculators are inaccurate. The VOA compare houses/bungalows by using external measurements which they took when they originally surveyed the house.

bubble72

ive been living on my own in 1 bedroom flat since dec 07,until now i didnt know i could claim 25% off council tax,so iv been to local council filled form out and asked about claiming backdated payments from when i moved in,the lady on desk said she reckoned they would only pay one year back,is this correct or should get full amount?if need to further claim for full amount who do i need contact please?

lincroft1710

bubble72 wrote: »

ive been living on my own in 1 bedroom flat since dec 07,until now i didnt know i could claim 25% off council tax,so iv been to local council filled form out and asked about claiming backdated payments from when i moved in,the lady on desk said she reckoned they would only pay one year back,is this correct or should get full amount?if need to further claim for full amount who do i need contact please?

Many councils require some sort of proof that you have actually been living alone if you are claiming more than a year. The law is unclear on backdating so only going back a year is the norm and councils are within their rights to restrict backdating. You should contact a senior revenue officer at the council.

Daisy_Russell

2 years ago I moved into my late parents' bungalow whilst it was being sold. A sale completed in May this year. I've since been going through some old paperwork and realised the property was in the wrong banding. (it was a new-build in 1992). I rang the valuation office and they said i cannot reclaim anything as I no longer live in the property. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can go forward with this or is it just my hard luck?

Zebedeee

Daisy_Russell wrote: »

2 years ago I moved into my late parents' bungalow whilst it was being sold. A sale completed in May this year. I've since been going through some old paperwork and realised the property was in the wrong banding. (it was a new-build in 1992). I rang the valuation office and they said i cannot reclaim anything as I no longer live in the property. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can go forward with this or is it just my hard luck?

Daisy, its true you cannot reclaim once you have sold the property. You could mention your feelings about the property being in the wrong banding to the new owners and they can take it to the VOA, but they will need to be quick as they only have 6 months from purchase of the property. If they were to get a re-banding it is possible (although not very common) that you might be able to get a refund. Don't count your chickens!

lincroft1710

Zebedeee wrote: »

If they were to get a re-banding it is possible (although not very common) that you might be able to get a refund.

If a property's band is reduced and reduction backdated to 1 Apr 1993 (or date property first banded if after 1 Apr 1993), all previous occupiers are entitled to a refund of any overpayment of CT.

The reasons this doesn't happen very often are that either council don't have contact addresses for previous occupiers or don't make the effort to find previous occupiers, whose current addresses they may have.

If Daisy is executor of her parents' estate then if there was a band reduction, not only could she claim for any overpayment for her occupation, but also for her parents' occupation which would be credited to the estate.

Zebedeee

lincroft1710 wrote: »

If a property's band is reduced and reduction backdated to 1 Apr 1993 (or date property first banded if after 1 Apr 1993), all previous occupiers are entitled to a refund of any overpayment of CT.

That may be so, but when my property was re-banded the VOA applied the rebanding starting from the date we purchased, putting previous owners outside of the period of entitlement to a refund.
However, some people do seem to get a refund in these circumstances, so it won't harm to encourage the new owners to pursue it!