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

ray1965

I purchased my house in 1991 for 30,500 (reduced from 33,00) yet i'm paying band b council tax! using property valuation calculator, it came up with a value of 42,000! surely my house value is what I paid for it?

Penguinloz

justmeaswell wrote:

Need some help here, confused. I bought my house in 1983 and when I look up the value for 1991, as suggested, it appears they put me in band D instead of C. However when I looked at the appeal procedure the council advise "After the introduction of Council Tax, everyone had up until 30 November 1993 to challenge the valuation band of their property". Thus they indicate that I can not challange. Any Ideas?

You can ask for a review band at any time, if you have been in the property that long just write a letter to your local valuation office, and they will look into it for you. However the official appeal process is only for people in certain circumstances ie been living there less than 6 months, material change of circumstances, had an increase recently etc.

Penguinloz

ray1965 wrote:

I purchased my house in 1991 for 30,500 (reduced from 33,00) yet i'm paying band b council tax! using property valuation calculator, it came up with a value of 42,000! surely my house value is what I paid for it?

The property value was based at the 1st April 1991, so it depends on which part of the year you purchased your property in, as values did start to drop towards the end of the year. plus these calculators are a rough guide only as they cover a wide area, and just take an average, so if there are a lot of higher value areas it would increase your value, however if you purchased your property quite near to April, i would think you have a good case for reviewing your band.

bell

bell wrote:

When we movbed into our property in 2002 we were re-banded to Band C based on a purchase price of £46,000 (which was band C in 1991).

As such we are the only flat on this street that pays band C with all the rest in Band B. No other flat has been re-banded since in 1995 in this street despite many being sold in that time.

Im guessing this gives us strong grounds for an appeal and claim for a refund.

Can anyone confirm?

Can someobody comment on this please.

mikewin

Hi

I'm new to the forums, having been jolted into action by Martin's appearance on TV last night.

A couple of questions:

Our house was re-banded from D to C in 2005 (I think this was part of a general re-banding throughout Wales). Would this limit our chances of getting a further re-banding, as the process in 2005 might have been done in a more proper manner? Or alternatively, would the re-banding in 2005 strengthen our case for a retrospective re-banding back to 1991, as it seems to be an admission that they'd got it wrong in the first place?

Also, two other factors have affected the house value: firstly, the building of a block of flats behind our house in 1992 removed the view of the hills we had before then (this may have been taken into account when the 2005 re-banding was done); and secondly, house prices in our street were affected by a murder in 1999, which has meant prices in our street are now still significantly lower than other streets in the surrounding area. The houses themselves haven't changed, just the perceived desirability of living here - is this the sort of thing that would affect council tax banding?

I've not been able to get to the VOA website since the TV programme last night (Even at 5 am!), so haven't got any further figures to go on, I'm afraid.

Thanks, all

Mike

rizla01

bell wrote:

Can someobody comment on this please.

You would need to check on two main points here.

1st. That the values and selling prices of the other flats are equivalant to yours.
2nd. That your flat has the same number and size rooms, design and outlook.

If all of the other flats look out onto other properties and yours enjoys views over fields/common Etc then naturally you would expect to pay more.

In other words, all things being equal then you should have grounds for an appeal.

Of course, if it is found that all of the other flats are rated too low and they get an increase as a consequence of your enquiry, then be aware that you won't be very popular so I'd be reluctant to discuss with neighbours.

HEY mikewin..........and secondly, house prices in our street were affected by a murder in 1999, which has meant prices in our street are now still significantly lower than other streets in the surrounding area

Personally, I doubt if a murder would affect the tax banding.
Blimey, many would murder the wife to get a reduced Council Tax.
Hmm food for thought. What HAS Martin started!

mackemprincess

tonyososki wrote:

Interesting to note that since the programme went on air they appear to have pulled the voa site...

Yes funny that was thinking that myself have been trying to get on the site since yesterday when the programme went out till now but to no avail and was wondering if in fact it the site had been pulled as oppose to it being busy due to demand.........I'll just have to keep trying!

The_magician_2

They have staff in this morning so call them they will help!

SteveUK_3

mackemprincess wrote:

Yes funny that was thinking that myself have been trying to get on the site since yesterday when the programme went out till now but to no avail and was wondering if in fact it the site had been pulled as oppose to it being busy due to demand.........I'll just have to keep trying!

I dont think we need conspiracy theories. The fact is the site probably isnt designed to handle this many logins, please remember that most sites crash when there is extrmeme interest in a short space of time

SteveUK_3

mikewin wrote:

Hi

I'm new to the forums, having been jolted into action by Martin's appearance on TV last night.

A couple of questions:

Our house was re-banded from D to C in 2005 (I think this was part of a general re-banding throughout Wales). Would this limit our chances of getting a further re-banding, as the process in 2005 might have been done in a more proper manner? Or alternatively, would the re-banding in 2005 strengthen our case for a retrospective re-banding back to 1991, as it seems to be an admission that they'd got it wrong in the first place?

Also, two other factors have affected the house value: firstly, the building of a block of flats behind our house in 1992 removed the view of the hills we had before then (this may have been taken into account when the 2005 re-banding was done); and secondly, house prices in our street were affected by a murder in 1999, which has meant prices in our street are now still significantly lower than other streets in the surrounding area. The houses themselves haven't changed, just the perceived desirability of living here - is this the sort of thing that would affect council tax banding?

I've not been able to get to the VOA website since the TV programme last night (Even at 5 am!), so haven't got any further figures to go on, I'm afraid.

Thanks, all

Mike

Hi, the properties in Wales have just been revalued as part of the Welsh Council Tax revaluation. This was carried out to update the price ranges of the individual bandings, which caused many properties to change bandings - a lot of the properties that went up in a Band was because they now included any alterations/improvements the properties had done since 1991.

If the band was lowered this doesnt necessarily mean the previous Banding was incorrect, it may mean that the price increases in your area were below the average and it has pushed it down a band.

If im correct i dont think you can now appeal on the banding from the previous valuation