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

lincroft1710

Ivy Bank, there is no requirement for SBC (or any other council) to state that the bands refer to 1991 valuations in any info they publish.

The VOA will band a dwelling on they believe it would have sold for as at 1 Apr 1991. The sale price of any dwelling will reflect its type, size, accommodation, location and features.

Scoobie268

grbh wrote: »

Folks, a bit of advice please - and apologies for the length of the post!

My wife and I bought an extended 4 bed semi in West Sussex in July 2012. Two of the bedrooms were quite small so we knocked them through to make one big bedroom, effectively reducing our house from a 4 bedder to a 3. We paid nearly £290,000 for it and having had 2 independent estate agents value it, they said it would be worth about £270,000. We are a band E, every other house in the street bar one is band D, including the one we are attached to who have gone up into their loft and extended out the back, giving them more square footage than we have.
The new value put us back in band D, so I contacted the VOA to challenge it. They initially turned it down, but when I lodged intent to appeal, they sent someone round. He agreed with the estate agents valuation, but the fly in the ointment for us is that the house sold for £85,000 in April 1995 as a 4 bed. That valuation put it in band E by £2475!
I've done loads of research into it and found at least 10 properties that are bigger than ours, sold for more money around the time we bought ours and yet they are paying over £600 a year less than us, including two about 50 yards from us!
My argument around the inflated price for our house in 1995 will be that it was the only 4 bed semi sold in our village in the whole of 1995, so it could command a premium then, hence the £85,000 price. The only other comparable property was a 3 bed detached which sold for £95,000, is bigger than ours and, yes, you guessed it, a band D!
I'm just wondering, having read all the law relating to the appeals process whether we will be wasting our time due to the selling price in 1995?

I sit as a VT member and hear council tax cases. We have to value the property as it stands now, but drag the value back to 1991. So if you have reduced the number of bedrooms at your property that makes a difference - it doesn't matter what it sold for originally as you have now materially changed the property. I heard just such a case, a small two bed flat reduced to a one bed flat, and the lady won it. BUT if you increase the size of the property, we have to value at that level too ... beware!

Scoobie268

Ivy_Bank wrote: »

We've just bought a flat for £125,000 which is in band C. Using Martin's calculator it would appear that it should be in band B, so I took a look at my council website. According to the information there (I can't post a link, but search "Scarborough Borough Council Valuation bands and charges" and you'll get straight to it) the flat should be in band F! There is no mention on their page of 1991 valuations, so anyone looking at the table provided is going to think they've got off lightly. Is this deliberately misleading, or am I missing something?

Can the VOA base a revaluation on a recent property sale price, or would they just say that we underpaid for the flat? I've looked at the neighbouring flat sales, but there have been very few, and I'm finding it difficult to work out which have one, two or three bedrooms. Ours is only two beds, but also has a garage. Is the valuation based solely on the sale price in 1991, or does floor area/amenities come into it, too?

Be aware that a property sale triggers the property being revalued for Council Tax. Unfortunately it is not in the interests of either estate agents or solicitors to point this out to you and quite often people are unaware until the new rebanding notice arrives! It will be valued as the property stands today (so any extensions or valuable improvements will be taken into account that have happened after 1.4.91), but the value will be dragged back to 1st April 1991 to place it in the required band. Therefore you might have bought it for £125,000 now but it is the 1991 value that's important.

If you are thinking of challenging the banding, do be aware that this may trigger the Council (via the Valuation Office, who undertake council tax valuations on their behalf) to put your banding UP. Do your homework on values in your block of flats, selling prices for identical flats as at 1.4.91 to see whether it's worth it. Try Zoopla and Property Snake as these can have historic values.

I sit as a lay member of the Valuation Tribunal Service in England and hear Council Tax appeals in case you are wondering.

Scoobie268

Ivy_Bank wrote: »

We've just bought a flat for £125,000 which is in band C. Using Martin's calculator it would appear that it should be in band B, so I took a look at my council website. According to the information there (I can't post a link, but search "Scarborough Borough Council Valuation bands and charges" and you'll get straight to it) the flat should be in band F! There is no mention on their page of 1991 valuations, so anyone looking at the table provided is going to think they've got off lightly. Is this deliberately misleading, or am I missing something?

Can the VOA base a revaluation on a recent property sale price, or would they just say that we underpaid for the flat? I've looked at the neighbouring flat sales, but there have been very few, and I'm finding it difficult to work out which have one, two or three bedrooms. Ours is only two beds, but also has a garage. Is the valuation based solely on the sale price in 1991, or does floor area/amenities come into it, too?

lincroft1710 wrote: »

As are many tribunals where there is no good 1991 sales evidence. Tribunals don't always reach the expected decision and there is currently a thread on another board where the taxpayer is seriously unhappy with their decision.

Many of my former VOA colleagues and I have all had tribunal decisions go against us when we were supremely confident of winning. Conversely there has been the occasional decision in our favour which we expected to lose.

You're right there Lincroft - I'm a VT member! It's all down to preparation, research, how you present your case and the quality of information you give us. Sometimes the general public have given startlingly well researched and evidenced cases that have shown up the professionals!!

cathodetube

When are appeals allowed?

clockworkid

I recently asked for a re valuation of my property and was successful in getting it re banded from D to C and backdated to 1993. I have owned the property only since August 2011. Do I get the rebate that is coming or does it go to the previous owner? Thanks in advance for any advice that you can give me.

lincroft1710

clockworkid wrote: »

I recently asked for a re valuation of my property and was successful in getting it re banded from D to C and backdated to 1993. I have owned the property only since August 2011. Do I get the rebate that is coming or does it go to the previous owner? Thanks in advance for any advice that you can give me.

Any overpayment that you have made will either be refunded or credited against any outstanding CT owing. Any previous occupiers who have overpaid and can be traced will also be refunded.

plippo

Ive been approached by firm of consultants in Bury to process council tax appeal - anyone dealt with such a party?

Gut feel is that too many firms in this sector going bust so best to leave alone............

The_Bookman

Greetings,

How can I establish how long my property has been in a particular tax band, when there is nothing in the "With effect from" field in the record for it on the VOA website?

Many thanks.

lincroft1710

The_Bookman wrote: »

Greetings,

How can I establish how long my property has been in a particular tax band, when there is nothing in the "With effect from" field in the record for it on the VOA website?

Many thanks.

It will be from the start of Council Tax, 1 Apr 1993 (Eng and Scot) or in Wales, 1 Apr 2005, the date of their CT revaluation.