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

lincroft1710

Jackiewellman wrote: »

Thank you, I'll stick with it then.

Just for interest, what's the strongest excuse you know, I promise it wont become my new one. :A

There is no excuse that would be acceptable, I've never come across any which stood any hope of success where the appeal was out of time.

If an appeal was received a day over the 6 months time limit, e.g person moved in 24 Jan, appeal received 24 July, the VOA would probably accept it. When CT first came into effect (1 Apr 1993), anyone who was a CT payer on that date had 8 months in which to appeal, but there was a definitive final date - 30 Nov 1993, no arguments in calculating that time period.

lincroft1710

Jackiewellman wrote: »

@lincroft1710

Reading some of your other posts, you have stated it isn't worth appealing a invalidity notice if you are outside the 6 month time frame as it will end up being investigated anyway.
In that situation, do you still have a chance of presenting your own evidence?.

Thanks.

You cannot present any evidence regarding banding at an invalidity tribunal, but you can of course give all your evidence to the VOA caseworker dealing with your appeal, so he can read it when he's ready to deal with the banding issue at a later date .

MrMagicMan

Hi everyone,


I live in a 2 bedroomed maisonette which is a Council Tax Band B.


I bought the property in 1999 for £45,600. Despite looking online and doing some digging around I cannot find what the property (or any of the other maisonettes) was worth before I bought it.


There are 4 other maisonettes in the same row all of which are Band B according to the VOA Valuation Office Agency website. Virtually all have single garages. Mine has a large double garage.


There is also a block of 2 bedroom flats next to my property that are similar build (time and style). The only difference being that they are 2 bedroom flats not maisonettes. According to the Valuation Office Agency website all of these flats are Band B except 1 flat which is listed as Band A. I am pretty sure that it is identical to the other flats.


Does anyone here think this is worth looking into further as to whether I might have a case for a lower council tax banding and if so how I could realistically argue my case?

lincroft1710

MrMagicMan wrote: »

Does anyone here think this is worth looking into further as to whether I might have a case for a lower council tax banding and if so how I could realistically argue my case?

Having a double garage means yours is a more valuable property than the others, so you are at a disadvantage when trying to compare your maisonette with the other flats/maisonettes.

What would help is knowing what year house prices in your area returned to 1991 levels after the rock bottom 1993/95 period. However in some areas, prices of flats, maisonettes and 1 bed cluster homes took longer to recover than those of 3 and 4 bed houses. Your purchase price indicates it is a bit borderline, so you ought to try and find any 2 bed flats/maisonettes in Band A and in a reasonable proximity to your maisonette.

But anything you find will probably always be countered with the argument "it doesn't have a double garage".

gazluv

I decided to phone the VOA today, they have said they will start "a report" on my parents property which may involve somebody going around to see the house, probably in the new year.
Is this good news?, if there was no chance of the CT being lowered i presume they would just say no......:huh:

lincroft1710

gazluv wrote: »

I decided to phone the VOA today, they have said they will start "a report" on my parents property which may involve somebody going around to see the house, probably in the new year.
Is this good news?, if there was no chance of the CT being lowered i presume they would just say no......:huh:

It's not a guarantee the band will be reduced, but at least it's a positive step.

gazluv

The day after my conversation with VOA suggesting they are starting a report on my parents property (possibly leading to a reduction), my father recieved a letter from his local council stating his current tax band is valid and won't be changed.
Who has more power if they both follow through with their statements.

lincroft1710

gazluv wrote: »

The day after my conversation with VOA suggesting they are starting a report on my parents property (possibly leading to a reduction), my father recieved a letter from his local council stating his current tax band is valid and won't be changed.
Who has more power if they both follow through with their statements.

The council have no say in whether or not a CT band is correct. If the letter is definitely from the council might it refer to his payments?

CIS

I'd suspect that the letter from the council is probably just to confirm that as far as the council are concerned they are currently using the correct band as held by the VOA, at the present time

crysys

I bought my house in September 2011. I never considered the unfairness of my council tax until I started looking at house prices in the street which led me to the council tax valuations within it. I have been shocked to see that many larger, more opulent houses are either in the same or lower tax bracket. The difficulty for me arises in the fact that no two house are the same. Although my house is detached, it is relatively small, with only 2 bedrooms. A small ground floor extension was completed in the 1960s. It is on a corner plot which makes the property look much larger than it is. Checking current house prices allows me to compare with similarly valued homes, most semi-detached with 3/4 bedrooms, but none like mine or in my higher tax bracket. It is a bit of an anomaly. I know I am out of time to challenge this as a new owner, so I would appreciate some guidance as how to proceed.