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

Penguinloz

simonjanda wrote:

Hi.
First sorry for sending this as a 'reply' but I have spent 30 mins trying to work out how to send a 'new thread' and cannot work it out.
My query is this:-
I have followed all the steps for Council Tax rebate.
We are in band C. All the house's that are the same are as mine are also in band C.
There isnt any recently sold to compare against. They are all the same age having been built at the same time.
So far not good.
We have always believed that we were in the wrong band because when we bought the house, the estate was brand new and the builders told us that the house was band B. The cost of the property, new in 1995 was £49,950 which should have been band B.
We did ask the council but were talked down to really and they assured us that the banding was correct.
So following the steps on the web site we have drawn a blank until I saw the 1991 banding/valuation chart which stated that in 1991 @ £49K I should be in band B not C. I appreciate that my house was built in 1995 but that would mean that if it was built in 1991 then the original cost would have been lower also.
I noted a warning on the site to way up the 'risk' of asking for for a re-assessment. I believe that all the houses that are the same as mine were wrongly banded to begin with, hence no comparison to make, and wondered if it is advisable to proceed with asking for a revaluation?
Any suggestion or comments please.
Thank s
Simon

Although your house was built in 1995, house prices were still lower in many places than in 1991, so it is possible that in 1991 your house would have reached over £52,000 (the abnd C starting point). The property market fell around 1993 and prices on average, didn't become the same value as 1991 until 1996-1997 in most places. That said your property sounds borderline, and there may be a case, i would suggest contacting your local valuation office, or trying one of the price indexes, although these are to be used as a guide only and seeing what the result is.

essexmate

For those of you failing to get onto the VOA website - try this backdoor, it worked for me 10 mins ago...

http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/cti_home.htm

Jotts

Penguinloz wrote:

Although your house was built in 1995, house prices were still lower in many places than in 1991, so it is possible that in 1991 your house would have reached over £52,000 (the abnd C starting point). The property market fell around 1993 and prices on average, didn't become the same value as 1991 until 1996-1997 in most places. That said your property sounds borderline, and there may be a case, i would suggest contacting your local valuation office, or trying one of the price indexes, although these are to be used as a guide only and seeing what the result is.

The rise and fall of the Property Market is another argument for more frequent revaluations.

Such as was mentioned on the Tonight programme, an example being Income tax.

Business rates as mentioned early are relooked at every 5 years and if Council Tax is to stay I would suggest every 5 years may be fairer than 10 years.

Although house prices have increased dramatically there would be a greater outcry of council tax had house prices plummeted dramatically.

Although the councils have increased their bills over the years so that argument isn't as strong as it could be.

Another argument would be the efficiency of the Councils yearly budgets.

Don't forget though the people at the council and the people at the Valuation Office still have to pay Council Tax too. They don't get a staff discount.

peter999

prudryden wrote:

I get the feeling that just because a red route has recently appeared in front of my house, which wasn't a red route in 1991, I can't use that for devaluation of my house is concerned. Any comments on that?

Poor you !!
Complain to TFL/Ken Livingstone, unless you're in the West Midlands.

peter999

essexmate wrote:

For those of you failing to get onto the VOA website - try this backdoor, it worked for me 10 mins ago...

http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/cti_home.htm

Thanks for that.
Didn't get through frontdoor once.

Even via backdoor is very, very slow.
Think system is in meltdown.

peter999

essexmate

peter999 wrote:

Thanks for that.
Didn't get through frontdoor once.

Even via backdoor is very, very slow.
Think system is in meltdown.

peter999

At least you were able to do a search though! Im sure the front door has been closed on purpose until it all dies down and people forget all about it.

WhiteHorse

It certainly appears that our house as been wrongly banded.

However, given that what you apply for is actually a 'reassessment', is there not a danger that they may say "Yes, we were wrong, here's your cheque. But given the house price rises over the years, we have now rebanded you 5 levels higher" ?

Jotts

essexmate wrote:

At least you were able to do a search though! Im sure the front door has been closed on purpose until it all dies down and people forget all about it.

I can't say whether this is true or not as I no longer work there.

However any website (including this one) crashes when overloaded with traffic. Which is reasonable to expect when all the press and a tv programme on a prime channel at a primetime suggests you visit that site.

Jotts

WhiteHorse wrote:

It certainly appears that our house as been wrongly banded.

However, given that what you apply for is actually a 'reassessment', is there not a danger that they may say "Yes, we were wrong, here's your cheque. But given the house price rises over the years, we have now rebanded you 5 levels higher" ?

Its only possible if there is a revaluation, you sell your house or its taken out of the list.

i.e you are reduced now but a revaluation meant you oved up a few bands. The bills for that band would only start from the revaluation date.

If you lived in Wales that date would have been 1st April 2005 with the value being as of 1st April 2003.

welshgasman

Jotts wrote:

Its only possible if there is a revaluation, you sell your house or its taken out of the list.

i.e you are reduced now but a revaluation meant you oved up a few bands. The bills for that band would only start from the revaluation date.

If you lived in Wales that date would have been 1st April 2005 with the value being as of 1st April 2003.

Now I am confused as I have just read this on the voa site. It appears to be working slowly now.

snip

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The Welsh Assembly Government sets the council tax bands for Wales. The table below shows the current range of values for each band:
A up to £44,000
B £44,001 to £65,000
C £65,001 to £91,000
D £91,001 to £123,000
E £123,001 to £162,000
F £162,001 to £223,000
G £223,001 to £324,000
H £324,001 to £424,000
I £424,001 and above


These bands came into effect on 1 April 2005.
endsnip

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So do I check for value in 2003 or 2005.?

It also states that any appeal must be made by 30/09/2006 for incorrect banding, so it appears that they have covered themselves.

I'll make a request anyway and see what they come up with.