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

decsdad

Yeah, of course it is their reason, but surely the value in 1991 is what the banding is based on, and there is evidence that the neighbours house is worth more than ours ?
The assessor gave me a spreadsheet with all the comparable houses on it, showing three columns, apartments, floor space and last sale value. So we are below the neighbours on 2 out of 3 categories.

lincroft1710

It doesn't always follow that 2010 house prices will reflect the market in 1991, but I find it hard to believe that the 2010 values would not echo 1991 values in this case. Some people may prefer 4 beds 3 en suites to 5 beds 2 en suites, and because yours is a bigger house, it would be expected to sell for more money. The percentage difference between the 2 house sales is nominal, the guy next door may have been desperate for 5 beds so offered more to secure it.

Does the Assessor's spreadsheet show any 1991 sales of houses of a similar size to yours.

BTW house prices are very cheap up there. In southern England for £200K you'd be looking at a 3 bed semi, no en suite, and still 50 miles out from London.

decsdad

Thanks, there is no sales evidence from anywhere near 1991 for houses of a similar size.
Which is unfortunate. BTW the nationwide house price gadget puts it at £70k in 1991 so band E.
I know that holds no real bearing but will include it to pad out my case.

lincroft1710

Even though my experience with NW and Halifax HPIs shows them to be on the low side when calculating 1991 prices, they're not normally 2 bands out. I would ask Assessor if he has any 1991 evidence.

Has the Assessor suggested he might increase neighbour to Band G if he wins?

decsdad

He has no 1991 evidence, just basing it on size relative to local houses, interestingly the neighbour had their band reduced two years ago. My case is that basically despite the size or maybe I should phrase that better as taking into account the size, the market has placed the neighbours house above mine(basically same price). So surely same band.
There is another thing I will bring up, our second lounge is a loft room, which as it us open I cannot count as a room, when it comes to resale etc. However he us counting it as a room when estimating our banding, surely this isn't right, as he is trying to estimate the houses value.
Thanks for the replies by the way.

Martin_Knott-Lewis

2 questions:_

1.How can I find out if any properties in my road have been re-banded?

2.What does the i symbol on the VOA website mean?
It says:
Improvement indicator- this shows that improvements have been made to the property that might result in the Council Tax band changing if a 'relevant transaction' takes place, for example, if the property is sold.

Could it be that VOA get Council notification of planning permission or else how would they know about improvement?

CIS

Could it be that VOA get Council notification of planning permission or else how would they know about improvement?

Thats how its supposed to work (often information is passed across).

lincroft1710

decsdad wrote: »

He has no 1991 evidence, just basing it on size relative to local houses, interestingly the neighbour had their band reduced two years ago. My case is that basically despite the size or maybe I should phrase that better as taking into account the size, the market has placed the neighbours house above mine(basically same price). So surely same band.
There is another thing I will bring up, our second lounge is a loft room, which as it us open I cannot count as a room, when it comes to resale etc. However he us counting it as a room when estimating our banding, surely this isn't right, as he is trying to estimate the houses value.
Thanks for the replies by the way.

Anything that would affect a dwelling's value can be taken into account when calculating CT bands, but clearly any loft accom is inferior, and should be valued accordingly.

I would hope the Tribunal would ask the Assessor why he has no 1991 evidence. If they don't, you should.

One thing is that Assessor may now try to claim is that neighbour's should never have been reduced.

decsdad

He said there is no useable 1991 evidence as we live in a small village and there was no sales of houses of our size/type etc

I am going to the main library to look up the records of 1991 newspapers etc tomorrow.

lincroft1710

Ask him how he was able to calculate the band if there was no 1991 evidence, he has to have some point of reference.