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

billykeats

Our house is a 2 bed end of terrace with a drive & garage at the end of our garden. Our neighbour is a 3 bed mid terrace with drive but no garage. We are both a Band C. However I have seen a 2 bed mid terrace with drive & no garage at a lower Band B Council Tax. Everyone else in the street are Band C.

Using the valuation check on the Money Saving Expert website for our house was valued to come out in Band B in 1991.

By having a separate garage at the end of our garden does this make our property stay in a Band C? Or do we have a case to appeal our Band C and possibly get it lowered on the basis that another 2 bed house in our road is a Band B?

lincroft1710

billykeats wrote: »

Our house is a 2 bed end of terrace with a drive & garage at the end of our garden. Our neighbour is a 3 bed mid terrace with drive but no garage. We are both a Band C. However I have seen a 2 bed mid terrace with drive & no garage at a lower Band B Council Tax. Everyone else in the street are Band C.

Using the valuation check on the Money Saving Expert website for our house was valued to come out in Band B in 1991.

By having a separate garage at the end of our garden does this make our property stay in a Band C? Or do we have a case to appeal our Band C and possibly get it lowered on the basis that another 2 bed house in our road is a Band B?

An end terrace will be worth more than a mid terrace and a garage will add a bit more value also. Because of the way the banding system works, different houses will be in the same band.

Any house price guide can only give an approximation and from personal experience they're frequently 10% inaccurate. Without knowing actual 1991 prices for the area, it's impossible to say whether you have a case.

As the worst that could happen would be the Band B house being increased to a C, you could ask for a band review.

Ragtag

We have a 1936 semi that is very similar to the other houses in our row ( some have a different footprint, but same size generally when built). We have lived in this house since 1987.
We are band D and having seen the report on TV I have checked on line following the links here, and found that three houses in our row are now shown as band C after challenging the band given (moved from a D).
I originally spoke to our local council, South Ribble Borough Council, who just said I could not change the banding as the other three properties were smaller?
I spoke to the VO this morning, and the girl stated that their records showed the three houses in the lower band are lower value.
I argued this as..
1. One has no garage, but has about 20% more land.
2. One has a garage and has had an extension to the rear of the house.
3. One has the same land, but has a conservatory.
All other houses in the row were very similar size, age and value in 1991 /3 but shown band D.
The lady filled a form in for me there and then and said it would be assessed and someone may need to attend the address.
I now read about the six month limit and wonder if they will quote this when they ring back ( as promised) or if this actually affects our house?

Any helpful advice?

Thanks....

lincroft1710

Ragtag wrote: »

.

I now read about the six month limit and wonder if they will quote this when they ring back ( as promised) or if this actually affects our house?

Any helpful advice?

Thanks....

The VOA should investigate the band even if you are outside the 6 month time limit for appeal. Being outside the time limit means if they say the band is OK, you have no recourse to a Tribunal.

bfcman

My council tax band has been reviewed and increased from Band D to Band E because in the opinion of the valuation officer "the value of my property in April 1991 would have been between £88,000 and £120,000." We actually moved into the property in September 91 so would have made an offer for the house around April 1991 and we paid £74,000 for it.
We were initially put into band E which we appealed in 1994 and were then placed in Band D until last year when they decided we were incorrectly valued.
I cannot understand how someones opinion 20 years after the event can be more relevant than the price that was paid on the open market. I have been sent bits of info from a high court case but that is to do with a house that was built in 2004.

Can anyone tell me if they have the right to change this banding after we had already had our proposal / appeal accepted in 1994? Would the six month rule apply to them as well as us?
Also we have made no significant changes to the house but even if we had I understand that this would only change the band once the property was sold.
I have looked at the tribunal documents as we will probably go to appeal and they say the Starting point is the value of what the house would have sold for in 1991 - how can the valuation office just ignore the evidence we have?

I would appreciate any information that might help me sort this out.

Thanks

lincroft1710

CT law allows the VOA to alter the band of a dwelling at any time if it believes that band is incorrect. Any changes to a dwelling made before 1 Apr 1993 must be reflected in the band.

What exactly was the High Court case about? It may be very relevant.

bfcman

it was domblides vs the listing officer -

it shows up in google but i can't post a link sorry.

lincroft1710

bfcman wrote: »

it was domblides vs the listing officer -

it shows up in google but i can't post a link sorry.

A case (after my time in the VOA) well known for the £8,100 costs awarded against Mr Domblides, as he lost his case. I have read a report of the case but can't see it has much relevance to your situation, it is mainly about Domblides' disagreement with the way the Valuation Tribunal used the evidence put before them in determining his band.

There are occasions when a sale price can be ignored, if it was a repossession or in poor repair. Also bear in mind that CT law refers to the actual date the property changed hands, not the date the offer was made.

I think you will have to wait until you get a date for a Tribunal hearing, then you will be able to see what evidence the VOA is using to support his decision.

Are there any other houses nearby which are similar to yours, and have been reduced to Band D, or increased to Band E.

JasonCooke

Quick Q. I live in a block of 13 apartments, built in 2005 and at the time valued at £130K, Band B. Late 2008 they were valued at £90K and 2010 to present valued at £70K. The VOA have declined my request for review. Is there legs in complaining as I'm not sure what the rules are over loss of value?

Thanks
J

bfcman

lincroft1710 wrote: »

......

Are there any other houses nearby which are similar to yours, and have been reduced to Band D, or increased to Band E.

Other houses have been changed from D to E recently in our exact same postcode (About 12 houses) but there are still houses in the road that are banded at D - these seem to be a similar size but are mainly on the other side of the road!

The information about another case they sent locally showed that they have a property that they can't change because a previous Tribunal decision had rated it at a lower band. We don't have that protection because in 1994 they agreed with us and changed the band, if they hadn't we would have gone to a tribunal then.

Thanks for your help