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

kad195

Hi can anyone help me I am sure I am on the wrong Council Tax Band. They have me as a Band D as 2 bed house, but i stay on the grounds of a golf club to be more specific my house is in the car park. I have no lighting no roads etc it is a dirt road to get to my property and when it snows I have no asssistence with getting out with regards to getting road gritted or grit bin at top of road. My house is rented and has never been bought as it is built on council ground and built by the golf club. Also my water seems to come from the golf club as when the greenkeepers have the water on to wash their vehicles or fill water tank I can't get a shower in my house so I don't see why i should be paying the council water charges when I can't get a shower like every other person on this planet. The only thing I see the council doing for me is emptying my bin and to be honest that doesn't happen every week either as have own wee bin van that comes and if it is snowing i have waited 7 weeks for my bin to be emptied before. Any help would be appreciated as I don't work as have alot of trouble paying my council tax. Thank you.

lincroft1710

kad195 - most of what you have written is irrelevant in respect of the CT band, except the fact it is a 2 bed house in a golf club car park. I am presuming you're in Scotland, so I don't know if same rules apply up there, but as you're not working you may be entitled to CT benefit. Contact your council.

lincroft1710

CyberPenguin wrote: »

Would I realistically get this band reduced? I find it odd that there are Band A flats across the road, and there are 2 bedroom flats in this block that are Band B.

It is impossible to say. If the Band A flats opposite were been worth £39,500 in 1991, your flat £41K and the 2 bed flats £51,500, then the bands would be correct. Or perhaps the 2 bed flats were undervalued. or the Band A flats were undervalued, or yours was overvalued.

The only way you can find out is to ask the VOA for an explanation, or if you are within 6 months of first occupying the flat make an online appeal.

Kelso

Does anyone if you can claim for a property you own but rent out i.e. no longer pay council tax on. I own a house which we started renting out a couple of years ago.

I have just done Martin's check and it looks like it should be in a higher band, which means that over the 6.5 years we lived there, we could have been paying over £1000 more than we should have! :mad:

Not happy! only just moved into our current house (which we rent) so no rebate there

lincroft1710

Kelso wrote: »

.

I have just done Martin's check and it looks like it should be in a higher band

I think you mean lower band!

If your tenants pay the CT, then they are the ones who should ask for a band review, or if they have been the occupiers for less than 6 months, they can make an appeal.

Kelso

lincroft1710 wrote: »

I think you mean lower band!

Lol, I meant that it goes from B to A, but yeah, that's what I mean. Shame about that, I will let them know. Perhaps when we move back in, I will try and reclaim our extra council tax.

Riskman

I live in a terraced house, new built in 2002, and all the houses in the row are Band D.

I have noted the sale price for all the houses in the row and used the MSE calculator to check what band they should be in.

The first 3 houses to be sold, in Q1 of 2002, had a notional 1991 value that puts them in Band D. The remainder, sold in Q2 and 3 of 2002, are squarely in Band C.
Subsequent resale prices also point back to a Band C valuation via the calculator.

The house price calculator is flawed because it does not take into account that new build homes always cost more than an equivalent older property. It grossly overvalues mine until I knock 10% off the sale price, then it comes up with a more realistic figure.

So, all the houses in my row should be in Band C. How do I argue this to the VOA?

Constructive comment will be gratefully received, thanks.

R

mirimoo

Hi MSE,

i recently tried to get my council tax rebanded, but was told that i was unable to as i had not applied within 6 months of moving into the property.
I then wrote a letter hoping that this would help but to no avail, they wrote back saying that they could not change my reband, as i was aware that i needed to apply within 6 months, at this point i was not aware it had o be within 6 months, i had even contacted them by phone and was told to wait for a form to be sent, and wasnot even told at this stage it needed to be completed or sent within 6 months. I completed the form a little late, as i am a student and was in the middle of exams and revision.

I have had another look at the council tax website and have found the semi detached property to my house is the same as mine, however my other neighbour is lower, but the semi next to his is the same category as mine?... im confused about the step i should take.
e.g house 2 is a B, the other semi 4, is an A
my neighbour 6 is a B, and i am a B
house 10 is an A and its semi is a B

and this is how it runs over the road, i dont see how half a plot can be band A and half a B?

thank you for any help,
and sorry if that above is confusing

lincroft1710

Riskman wrote: »

The house price calculator is flawed because it does not take into account that new build homes always cost more than an equivalent older property. It grossly overvalues mine until I knock 10% off the sale price, then it comes up with a more realistic figure.

So, all the houses in my row should be in Band C. How do I argue this to the VOA?

But the value of a brand new house in 1991 would have been more than a similar existing house, so it could be argued that as your home was brand new in 2002, it was correctly valued higher.

Note I said could be argued. The wording of the relevant CT legislation does not state that any allowance should be made when ascertaining the 1991 value of a newbuild.

The VOA should have evidence of 1991 sales of similar dwellings to yours, which you should ask about. From experience, house price indices tend to undervalue, so even taking your 10% reduction (for which there is no authority) out of the equation, Band D may be correct.

lincroft1710

mirimoo wrote: »

... im confused about the step i should take.
e.g house 2 is a B, the other semi 4, is an A
my neighbour 6 is a B, and i am a B
house 10 is an A and its semi is a B

and this is how it runs over the road, i dont see how half a plot can be band A and half a B?

Just ask them for an explanation of why seemingly identical houses are in different bands.