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

Shar_3

Hi,

Is it possible to reclaim anything for a previously owned house if at the time I was paying more council tax than I should have.

Thanks for your help with this,

Shar

lincroft1710

Shar wrote: »

Hi,

Is it possible to reclaim anything for a previously owned house if at the time I was paying more council tax than I should have.

Thanks for your help with this,

Shar

Only the current taxpayer can ask for a band reduction, but if the band has been reduced subsequent to your occupation and backdated then you can claim for any overpayment.

lil_louus

In a street we may be moving to I've noticed a few houses in band E and the rest are band D they are all detached houses some with single garages and some with double garages - would the double garages affect the banding? I haven't checked to see if all the band E houses have double garages but this is my theory..

vivatifosi

lil_louus wrote: »

In a street we may be moving to I've noticed a few houses in band E and the rest are band D they are all detached houses some with single garages and some with double garages - would the double garages affect the banding? I haven't checked to see if all the band E houses have double garages but this is my theory..

If the garages are in a block rather than within the curtilage of the house, they cannot be included for valuation purposes (at all, so the value of any garage should be deducted, single or double).

If the garages are within the curtilage, then they will form part of the value. If the houses were judged to be near the top of band D some could well have gone into band E. It is worth checking their band on VOA website and then with your own knowledge.

lincroft1710

A double garage could well be the reason for the difference in banding

londonuk2008

lincroft1710 wrote: »

1) Check the effective date of the new band, if it is this year, you are not due a refund.

2) Have the council adjusted this year's bill so that it has been offset by any possible refund.

3) Were you receiving any CT benefits which meant you hadn't in fact overpaid.

4) Do you owe any money from previous tax years which may have been offset against a refund.

Sorry took so long to get a reply from the VO..

Anyway, the new band was only effective from April this year, and the council duly adjusted.The reason given why the VO would not backdate is as they have said the believe the property had been changed (its only a small flat built in 2001) - I stated I had been the council tax payer since 2007 (full payer no benefits), and since i have lived at the property no alterations had been carried out. Each previous years CT had been paid in full.

VO have said tough - if you want to appeal this is what you can do.

What do you think my chances are?

lincroft1710

londonuk2008 wrote: »

.

VO have said tough - if you want to appeal this is what you can do.

What do you think my chances are?

I never, ever came across a case where a band reduction was not backdated, unless there had been a recent change to property or surroundings.

My advice would be appeal and go to Tribunal, as VOA will have to explain their reasoning to the Tribunal.

Gediknight

Hi, live in a 3 bed detached, new build built 2012 and have been banded in F. Nearby detached houses are a band below us, registered appeal and had a visit from SAA and they stated our house size etc, made our banding comparable with new builds built prior to 1991, approx 2 miles from our property.

We have a garage attached and it was only when I saw her paperwork, it is deemed a linked detached. Although we are not joined to next property. She states the Sq m2 is approx 125 and because of this has compared our price to similar new builds with our size pre 1991.

We live in a new build site in Scotland and still many year for the estate to be built. We have no buses or shops nearby, although we do have a major secondary school within walking distance. 4 bed detached house, est 155 Sq M2 is banded as the same as ours and price difference is over £70,000.

It feels like a lost cause in dealing with an appeal, as the SAA appear to have the upper hand with regards to prices afforded to them, criteria not readily available to put up a fight.

I'm am unsure if the garage linked to our property appears to have been, added to the square meterage of the house.
If it was not added them, I feel for sure our house would be in a lower banding.

The SAA was very nice about everything but to be honest, felt I would be wasting my time trying to win this appeal.

There appears in what I have read, a certain grey area when it comes to what is defined in a banding and what they tell you is in it. She stated to me that although, that house which was built in 1990, is of a lesser size than ours, at the time would have been possibly at the lower end of £80.000 puting us into the F bracket.

Sorry if this looks all gobbly gook, it's hard enough to try and work out what I can say or do, to give myself a fighting chance.

Anyone with any scraps of advice, greatly appreciated. :(

lincroft1710

Gediknight wrote: »

Nearby detached houses are a band below us.

We have a garage attached and it was only when I saw her paperwork, it is deemed a linked detached. Although we are not joined to next property. She states the Sq m2 is approx 125 and because of this has compared our price to similar new builds with our size pre 1991.

We live in a new build site in Scotland and still many year for the estate to be built. We have no buses or shops nearby, although we do have a major secondary school within walking distance. 4 bed detached house, est 155 Sq M2 is banded as the same as ours and price difference is over £70,000.

I'm am unsure if the garage linked to our property appears to have been, added to the square meterage of the house.
If it was not added them, I feel for sure our house would be in a lower banding.

She stated to me that although, that house which was built in 1990, is of a lesser size than ours, at the time would have been possibly at the lower end of £80.000 puting us into the F bracket.

Because of the width of the bands you can easily find many larger houses in the same band. It is unlikely that the area of the garage has been added into the area of the house.

I would get as much info as possible on the lower banded neighbouring houses, the Assessor should provide some details of these.

Gediknight

Thanks for advice, I will be attending the local library and try and search for similar properties. I assumed they have added the sq m2 of garage to compare it to approx 4 3 bed detached new build properties built in 1990.