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

Abz89

Abz89 wrote: »

Hello,
I've just been researching my banding of my CT and I think it was wrong for my previous address. I just moved last month and have been checking that I'm not been scammed but discovered that my old flat was being charged B when it was a 3 Storey house split into 3 flats, I had the basement flat which counted as a seperate address . When I check the banding webiste, the other flats said 'DELETED' .
What does this mean and does anyone know if I could reclaim for my old house?
Many Thanks

UPDATE

The confusion was caused by the property and the general area being used by students. But I found out that my new property is in the wrong band and I have started the process of getting it rebanded. I have plenty of evidence thanks to rightmove. Thanks for the advice guys

lincroft1710

Jenny, only the current occupier of a dwelling can ask for a CT rebanding. Most definite.

lincroft1710

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Hi all
I am a newbee, and completely confused by this. I have read, and re-read Martin's page, and dont get it. What I have found out is, I am banded Band E, (In scotland, via the link on Martin's page). When I check on the value of my house in 1991, it falls in the category for Band A. All the houses in my street vary from Band D to Band F, unsure how to check if they are the same size etc to my house. I am obviously hopeful that I can reclaim some money back, but I am very aware that my band could increase my Council Tax, and I am fairly skint, and wouldnt be able to afford much more outgoings.
Help!!
FLC

Either there is something definitely wrong with your band or you have miscalculated the house price conversion.

FunLovinCriminal

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Either there is something definitely wrong with your band or you have miscalculated the house price conversion.

Hiya
Yeah your right, must have mistyped in Martin's Calculator. Just tried it now, and it says it would have been worth £53k in 1991, and that fits into Band D. I am currently in Band E. Whats the next step, and does it warrant the risk? I mean if my Council Tax goes up, I could be screwed.
Where would I find out what the difference is from Band E (Current) to Band D (projected)? And is it backdated?
Cheers
FLC

lincroft1710

FLC - unlikely your CT band would increase. So if you've lived in your house for less than 6 months you can make a proposal online http://www.saa.gov.uk/proposals.html just follow the links and instructions. If you've lived at your house for more than 6 months you will have to write to the relevant Assessor see http://www.saa.gov.uk/.

Your council will be able to tell you difference between payment for D and E bands and a band reduction would be backdated.

audreyb_2

I have lived in my house 31 years,have just check on the council tax band and have found my neighbour opposite is in the same band as me although she has an extre bedroom.Also on checking the value of my house in 1995 I find it has been put in a higher tax bracket.The house in the area were selling for £21,000 and the bracket the house was in starts at £40,000,have I got grounds to ask for a re-assessment or am I too late?.I would be grateful for some advice.

lincroft1710

House values in 1995 were generally a lot lower than in 1991. Many different houses will be in the same band so the fact your neighbour has an extra bedroom doesn't make your incorrect, their band may even be too low.

You can ask for a band review at any time, but you must provide good evidence that your band is wrong and there is no right of appeal to a tribunal if it is decided your band is correct.

JennyP

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Jenny, only the current occupier of a dwelling can ask for a CT rebanding. Most definite.

Is this definitely true? The previous owner is hassling us daily trying to get us to apply but we are SO busy with work at the moment, that we haven't time. Keeping a business afloat is diffciult at the moment!

We've told her we will apply but she is threatening to do it.

We've been told by our local office that she can apply but as the previous occupier her application will go to the bottom of the pile and could take ages to deal with. We were also told that once she applies, we can't apply too. That doesn't seem fair.

If we get chance, we will get onto it but it doesn't seem right that she can apply and prevent us from applying.

davideC

Hi, I'm new here, although I've been reading MSE forums for a while.

What happened to me is what is mentioned in the guideline as
"In some extremely rare examples it's even possible that your neighbours band could be increased."

I just moved into a new house and received a letter saying that they are reviewing the band of the property since we just bought the house.

I had checked and there was no improvement indicator before buying the house (but I have no record of it, except my memory). After receiving this letter an improvement indicator appeared next to my house.

The VOA officer made an appoitment with me to view the property, but he didn't turn up, nor did he bother to ring to say he wasn't coming.

3 weeks later a new letter comes through the post saying that the house was rebanded from D to F (!!!) due to the change of value following alterations made before the sale.

I then called the VOA officer to point out that no alterations were made to the property which wasn't at any point extended. He said that the letter they sent was incorrect and that it so happened that at the same time I bought the house someone in the same street appealed to have their band changed. They lost their appeal, but our house (that was used as a comparison) had to be rebanded.

To my complain that they have sent incorrect information I only received a few apologies and that a new letter with the correct explanation would be sent out. I personally don't buy the story with someone else appealing right at the same time when we bought the house. Althogh it is likely that someone has seen the house on rightmove and decided to use it as a benchmark to welcome us to the neighbourhood

Do I have any grounds to appeal to the decision because I did not ask for my house to be rebanded, nor was there any improvement made to the house by the previous owners?

Or is it that they can change any band on any house they like, just because of an appeal in the area?

Frustrated... thanks for your ideas!
d.

JennyP

Just looking into this issue for our property and when we rang our local office the other day, we were told that improvements we'd made to the house should not affect our banding but that when we come to sell, the property will be reassessed and this might put the banding up for the new owners. I'm guessing that's what's happened to you.
I imagine that they're entitled to do that and that the solicitors and previous owners wouldn't be aware of the possible change - we wouldn't have been if they'd not told us on the phone this week.
Pain isn't it? Why is life so complicated?