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

lincroft1710

JasonCooke wrote: »

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

Loss of value due to property price movement is not grounds for a lower band. If there was a physical change in the vicinity, e.g. a noisy factory was built next to the block which in itself caused the values of the flats to fall, you would have a case for a possible rebanding.

If you could prove that the flats in your block were banded too high in comparison with flats in other nearby blocks, you may also have a case.

JasonCooke

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Loss of value due to property price movement is not grounds for a lower band. If there was a physical change in the vicinity, e.g. a noisy factory was built next to the block which in itself caused the values of the flats to fall, you would have a case for a possible rebanding.

If you could prove that the flats in your block were banded too high in comparison with flats in other nearby blocks, you may also have a case.

Thanks for your response. What are your thoughts on this because I'm struggling with the VOA, they are dismissing this argument.

The problem with apartments is the hit they took post 2008 crash means their inherent value will never ever return to what they were. Look at any apartment in the north west (I've not checked other areas) all have taken a hit like 40-50% from what I can see and from what multiple agents across the county tell me.

So if a new apartment block was built similar to mine today and was banded, it would be a Band A and not a B like mine. So I need to somehow leverage this robust fact.

On top of losing £50K in cash I also have to pay too much council tax. That can't be right.

Thanks

lincroft1710

JasonCooke wrote: »

Thanks for your response. What are your thoughts on this because I'm struggling with the VOA, they are dismissing this argument.

The problem with apartments is the hit they took post 2008 crash means their inherent value will never ever return to what they were. Look at any apartment in the north west (I've not checked other areas) all have taken a hit like 40-50% from what I can see and from what multiple agents across the county tell me.

So if a new apartment block was built similar to mine today and was banded, it would be a Band A and not a B like mine. So I need to somehow leverage this robust fact.

On top of losing £50K in cash I also have to pay too much council tax. That can't be right.

Thanks

What the VOA will look at is what the apartment would have sold for as at 1 Apr 1991, had it been in existence at that time. It doesn't matter if the apartment was built in 1981, 1991, 2001 or 2011.

That is why you need to find the bands of apartments which are older than yours.

JasonCooke

We had large blocks of flats in 1991, closest being about 10 miles away but I don't know of any small apartment blocks within housing estates in 1991 like we have now. They just didn't exist in my area back then. And this is my argument, what the hell are the VOA basing the band on apart from the new price in 2006 - there is nothing else to use, hence why I think a challenge is appropriate.

They consistently bang on about evidence, knowing no such thing exists.

lincroft1710

Jason, can you find any properties in your area (other than mobile homes) in Band A?

JasonCooke

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Jason, can you find any properties in your area (other than mobile homes) in Band A?

Yes. Being a working class mill town there are thousands of terrace houses, the majority Band A I would think.

lincroft1710

JasonCooke wrote: »

Yes. Being a working class mill town there are thousands of terrace houses, the majority Band A I would think.

Won't be the best direct comparison but if they are Band A
and with basic modernisation currently sell for similar money as the apartments in your block, you may have a case.

Keane16

Hi,

I have a similar issue to JasonCooke.

The flat I own is a warehouse refurb. They went for insane (honestly INSANE) prices in 2007 when they went on sale.

In 2007 the 2 bed flat I live in sold for ~£250,000. This means the '91 value is ~£85,486 placing it in Band D.

I paid £116,000 in Q3 2012 - but as a repossession at an auction it's not a very true reflection on value. A neighbour flat (identical spec, but no allocated parking which is worth £10-15k) was sold in Q3 2011 for £137,500.

The turnover of the flats is very low, so it's hard to accurately gauge what they're worth now. But running various sold prices of flats in my development from Zoopla into the Nationwide House Price Index calc it seems about £150,000 would be a fair amount for my flat today (if I was to sell I'd probably look to market it at this price). It also falls in line with other comparable flats in the area. This adjusts to £56,740 in '91 equalling a Band C property.

I've checked the VOA website and gone through a number of flats - I've found a couple of 2 bed flats which appear to have been rebanded down to a Band C which is a positive sign, but most are still Band D.

What would be the best way to handle this? Start with a call to the VOA? What's my best 'angle', just explain the flat was incorrectly banded in 2007?

lincroft1710

Keane16 wrote: »

I've checked the VOA website and gone through a number of flats - I've found a couple of 2 bed flats which appear to have been rebanded down to a Band C which is a positive sign, but most are still Band D.

What would be the best way to handle this? Start with a call to the VOA? What's my best 'angle', just explain the flat was incorrectly banded in 2007?

Finding a similar flat in a lower band is far more sensible than using Zoopla or house price comparison sites which are inaccurate and have silly prices - how many houses sell for £85,486? £85,500 would be a more usual price.

In 2007 the flat may have in fact been correctly banded, judging by its sale price. The passage of time now indicates that had these flats been built in 1991, they may not have achieved in excess of £68,000.

Phone, e-mail or write. By phoning you may get to talk with the caseworker who would investigate the band.

Keane16

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Finding a similar flat in a lower band is far more sensible

I just tried to cover as many bases as possible. But yeah the direct comparisons were the best piece of evidence.

Just gave them a call. The lady was nice and really helpful. She's forwarded on the request to the local authority for investigation. So far so good. We'll see where it goes.