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

lincroft1710

In VOA's eyes the band is not incorrect, they may have 1991 sales info which proves Band B.

The only thing you can do is ask them to look again. See if you can find properties of a similar type and size which are nearby and in Band A. Ask your neighbour if he'll ask for a band reduction.

Empty_pockets

Well just spoke to them.

They say they have some information about prices suggesting band B but cant divulge what it is. They are however happy to revisit it if I can provide more evidence.

Question is...where can I find historic house sale prices?

lincroft1710

1991 sale prices are not in the public domain. 1994 prices are, but in the area I covered when I worked in VOA, these were 25% below 1991. You can search archived property pages from local newspapers, but you will only get asking prices.

cathodetube

lincroft1710 wrote: »

1991 sale prices are not in the public domain. 1994 prices are, but in the area I covered when I worked in VOA, these were 25% below 1991. You can search archived property pages from local newspapers, but you will only get asking prices.

I have tried to get the 1991 prices too, but haven't been able to. Are they available though to VOA? I had a paper valuation done on a previous flat in 1991 and had kept it in a file, and so was able to get my band lowered on that one when council tax came in.

Empty_pockets

lincroft1710 wrote: »

1991 sale prices are not in the public domain. 1994 prices are, but in the area I covered when I worked in VOA, these were 25% below 1991. You can search archived property pages from local newspapers, but you will only get asking prices.

Where would I get 1994 prices?

I'm certain they'll be well under band B as houses were going for £40K in as late as 2000.

lincroft1710

VOA have details of virtually every property sale in the country. They will only disclose relevant 1991 sales evidence where a valid appeal has been.

I'm not sure whether 1994 property prices are on Zoopla or another site. If you do an advanced search on this site, you should find the threads which refer to these.

2000 prices were generally higher than 1991, but some areas and/or property types were slower than others to recover.

Cas

Cas wrote: »

We successfully appealed our council tax band with Glasgow City Council and received a letter at the start of July advising that whilst made "your proposal has not been made within the time laid down by statute and is consequently invalid, I am prepared, without prejudice, to alter the entry in the Council Tax list from Band F to Band E ... a formal offer will be issued to you in due course, and the Director of Financial Services will be appropriately advised".

We've now received a Notice of Banding confirming the amendment and it's effective from when the house was built in 1999.:j

A big thank you to all who contributed to this thread!:T

:question: So my question is does the council now automatically refund the overpayments made since we moved into the house in 2006 or do I need to write to them and request the refund?

Update... DH eventually phoned Glasgow City Council as we'd heard nothing and after checking our current council tax was up to date they agreed to release our refund ... £2,065.90! :j

Thank you again to everyone on this thread!:T

Now off to tell my near neighbour whose house is identical to ours how he can reduce his council tax too.

TT247

Followed the guidance and received 1 band reduction initially and a further band on appeal. Big saving backdated to when I moved in. Now in band D instead of F and saving every month . Everybody said I wouldn't win, but I did? Thank you :j

afm_2

Hi!

Does anyone know how I can find out how much an extension would be worth back in 1991. I have now evidence from newspapers from 1991 that the value of my property (minus its extension) was about £10000 below the band that it is currently in. However, this house has an extension and the only properties I could find in the newspaper back in 1991 don't have any extension. I was hoping I could estimate its value back then but I have no idea of how to do that Any ideas?

Thank you!

bigelpresidente

In May 2011 the property we bought in April 2011 had the Council Band altered from D to E. The reason being that the previous owner of the property had added an extension since the property was built. This was only a single storey ground floor extension of about 18 sq.m. At the time I stupidly did not bother to appeal. Since receiving the Money Saving Expert article on Council tax cost cutting I decided to look at the bands of other houses in the same street by looking them up in the VOA list. I found to my amazement that the next door neighbour's house which is much bigger and much more expensive than mine has a lower tax band. This is the same for another house nearly opposite. Then I found more houses in the same street similar to mine but more expensive when new that have the lower band
I really want to appeal now but the 6 months passed a long time ago. Do you think there is a chance that the VOA will entertain a late appeal?
Good advice will be much appreciated - thankyou