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

cathodetube

Just recently checked on mine and my neighbours. Found out that a house (2 doors away) that was for sale at the same time I bought mine - 2003 - is a band lower than mine. Our houses sold at the same time and for the same price. Found out from the VOA that they had applied for a rebanding back in the Nineties. Have been sent a form to fill out but not sure what else to put on it, as I don't know what the houses sold for in 1991/2/3.

ForEverEngland05

Tried to use this service...but said invalid post code....

boisfin100

i'm assessing the band of my property in bristol at the moment. just realised there's an app that does this on the iphone called 'council tax' - pretty useful. can see the bands of the other properties on the same street.

jax.26

Hi
Any advice would be appreciated.

I applied to have my banding change in August '07 and it was accepted that my banding should change from E to D. I also received a payment backdated to April '93.

I have now received a letter (after all this time) informing me that ' as a consequence of receiving a number of appeals against the council tax bandings of similar houses to your own in local area, I have been obliged to re-examine the banding applied to your house'.
The letter goes on... 'After close consideration of the matter, it is my opinion that the correct valuation of your property is within band E...'

So, my band has been changed because people in my area in the same type of house have applied for a change of their banding.

Any thoughts on this matter?

Thanks

lincroft1710

jax.26 wrote: »

Any thoughts on this matter?

The original banding was probably correct in the first place and should not have been reduced. You can appeal the reversion to Band D and have the right for the Valuation Tribunal to determine the correct band.

Black_Cloud

Hi there

Firstly thank you to you all for your help in regard to getting our council tax bands corrected.

I've followed the instruction and found my house was borderline, which could put many off applying, but these values were applied "hyperthetically" in 1991, without agents viewing houses. So do look at how your house may differ between the hyperthetical house of your type in your area. My house wasn't even built in 1991.

so have pointed out the difference between my house and the "hyperthetical" 3 bed semi, ie smaller than the average 3 bed semi, no drive, no garage, only one parking space, overall demise smaller than average etc...

They agreed and reduced the banding from C to B.

However, before I received their decison, I submitted further information, as I found out that a house which is substantially larger, set in a larger plot and 2 only doors away from me, had been re-banded from C down to A. The owner had argued that the industrial unit we both live along side of, was de-valuing our properties. The Valuation office disagreed and threatened to take the matter to court. My old neighbour agreed, only to be told 2 weeks later that they had changed their minds and re-banded his house to band A.

When I spoke with the VOA about this additional info submitted, they told me they disregarded it as his house was older than mine, so would be valued at a lower figure????? Where on earth have these people got their ideas of property valuing from is beyond me???

So, despite having some success, I've submitted a further proposal, pointing out that as an ex valuer, the evidence submitted re the nearby house being larger and in a plot 4 times the size of mine, would be extremely difficult to argue in court that it is indeed worth less.

I await their response.

But the moral of the story is basically, just because the online valuation may provide a value which indicates you;re in the correct band, don't take it as gospel, as desktop valuations are hypothetical and do not take any anomalies or specifics to the area (such as adjoining an industrial unit) into consideration. Oh and don't forget to check the banding of nearby properties too!

It costs nothing to apply and you could get a nice litle repayment! :T

owenstribe

I live in a 3 bed semi in a suburban estate. We bought our house in 1999 but it was built in 1991. Myself and our attatched neighbour are banded C but all the other houses (identical) are in band B. I have applied for rebanding and was told the case has been opened and will take 2 months. Howevere, I was asked if we have a conservatory which we have but it was there when we bought the house. Should the conservatory make a difference to the outcome of our appeal?? ( My neighbour does not have any conservatory)

lincroft1710

owenstribe wrote: »

Howevere, I was asked if we have a conservatory which we have but it was there when we bought the house. Should the conservatory make a difference to the outcome of our appeal??

If, for example, the 1991 value of your house without conservatory would have been £51,500, but with a conservatory £53,000, then it's going to make a difference.

jiggyquincy

Just sent a claim away to the SAA in the hope that my 2 bedroom flat will be downgraded from a C to a B.

I have been in the flat for 2 years and didn't know you could contest it until now so might get rejected due to time lapse but i'll use Martin's next step to appeal if it does.

The majority of flats within the complex are a band C but there is 2 listed as a B and one with exactly same amount of bedrooms, same value and layout on a band A!

I know my landlord bought the flat in jan 2007 for £80000, using Martin band checker, that would make it £27000 in 1991, making it a band B. This is a similar story for all the properties sold withing the last 7 years (pretty much checked then all!!)

Fingers crossed now! Even if I don't get a refund it would be nice to pay a little less in council tax.

zip1980

hi i just found this rebanding info, so i did a little research online, i live in a manor that was converted in 2000 into 14 flats, i found my flat and another that were sold same month in 2000 (both listed as new build) they were both sold for 45k, i went on the council website and found that the other flat is in band A and mine is band B. 10 of the flats are band A mine and 3 others B. mine has 2 bedrooms i dont know about the other that was sold at the same time for the same price but if its based on Value does this mean i could get my band reduced (crossing fingers for a yes!) thanks in advance for your help