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

familyguy321

lincroft1710 wrote: »

1991 sales info is not in the public domain, so you could try to archive newspaper property ads in 1991, but you would only get asking prices. Alternatively try to find nearby estates of 1980s/90s houses of similar size and type houses and check the bands.

I have found in certain circumstances NW HPI to be 25% inaccurate, it tended to very much underestimate 1991 values. 1996 was a year in which for some parts of the country house prices were on the rise, but in other areas still static.

Understood, thanks. Will put together an appeal and send it off - hopefully the decision will be overturned.

FG

pvogue

My friend got a text from someone claiming that they had a refund fee..... http /online-council-tax.co.uk

be aware

Lucifa42

We've moved into a new build 3 bed property at the end of September and was shocked when our council tax band came through - Band F!
We were expecting Band D, I could even grudgingly accept a Band E - possibly but certainly not F.

We've checked the properties around us, all new builds of course and those of the same style and size are all band D. 4 beds appear to be all D and E and then the only Fs are all 5 beds (apart from ours!).

We've put the appeal in of course and now patiently waiting (or not so patiently as we've been hit with a large tax bill with only 3 months to pay it). Currently 4 weeks and counting.

familyguy321

lincroft1710 wrote: »

1991 sales info is not in the public domain, so you could try to archive newspaper property ads in 1991, but you would only get asking prices. Alternatively try to find nearby estates of 1980s/90s houses of similar size and type houses and check the bands.

I have found in certain circumstances NW HPI to be 25% inaccurate, it tended to very much underestimate 1991 values. 1996 was a year in which for some parts of the country house prices were on the rise, but in other areas still static.

Following my appeal, I have now received a letter from the Valuation Tribunal stating that they will be arranging a hearing date for my appeal that will be within the next five months and I will hear from them again when the date has been fixed.

Is it best to get a solicitor involved or can I represent myself?

Regards,
FG

lincroft1710

familyguy321 wrote: »

Is it best to get a solicitor involved or can I represent myself?

A solicitor is no use whatsoever they have no knowledge of CT or property values. You could employ a surveyor, but as costs are not awarded at a Valuation Tribunal hearing, you would be responsible for his fees even if you won.

99.99% of people at a CT VT represent themselves.

lincroft1710

Lucifa42 wrote: »

We've checked the properties around us, all new builds of course and those of the same style and size are all band D. 4 beds appear to be all D and E and then the only Fs are all 5 beds (apart from ours!).

We've put the appeal in of course and now patiently waiting. Currently 4 weeks and counting.

Let us hope then that they have made a mistake with your band, rather than they have suddenly realised they have made a mistake with the other houses and yours is the first house with the correct band!

Patience is a virtue and you will need to be virtuous as it can take a couple of months for the VOA to come to a decision (your appeal will be at the bottom of a pile) and several months if the matter has to be determined by the independent Valuation Tribunal.

familyguy321

lincroft1710 wrote: »

A solicitor is no use whatsoever they have no knowledge of CT or property values. You could employ a surveyor, but as costs are not awarded at a Valuation Tribunal hearing, you would be responsible for his fees even if you won.

99.99% of people at a CT VT represent themselves.

Thanks - looks like I will be representing myself then. Is there a good resource that gives guidance on how to prepare for the VT? I've never done anything like this before so a bit nervous to be honest.

Regards,
FG

lincroft1710

I think the VT send an information booklet when they let you know the date of the hearing

Lucifa42

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Let us hope then that they have made a mistake with your band, rather than they have suddenly realised they have made a mistake with the other houses and yours is the first house with the correct band!

Patience is a virtue and you will need to be virtuous as it can take a couple of months for the VOA to come to a decision (your appeal will be at the bottom of a pile) and several months if the matter has to be determined by the independent Valuation Tribunal.

Success! Got a call from the VOA today.
They had made a mistake and thought ours was a bigger property so it's reduced to band D. Just less than 2 months in the end from challenge to decision.

Personally I think originally our plot was supposed to be a 5 bed house, we are more separated from other plots where a 5 bed would fit in nicely. Then it was reduced it to a 3 bed and perhaps the VOA are still using some old information.

Now just the patient wait for the council to catch up...

Lou30

Please can anyone give me some advice- I challenged my council tax band in April 2015, it got rejected . There are 14 properties in my road which are in band E, I am currently in band F. I can see from the gov.co.uk website that all 14 properties were at some point in band F but have been lowered.
These properties are all very similar in size & layout to mine , in fact a few are larger ( these have improvement indicators on ) however my point is that my property has had no improvements and the size remains the same.
This issue has continued to annoy me so I called my local VOA office earlier this month and they have agreed to carry out a 2nd review- they said they will send an inspector to my property to have a look round and take some measurements.
I have also emailed the VOA office some information I managed to find via the "rightmove " website. Two of the band E properties have been sold in the last 7 years so the "for sale" adverts are in the public domain- the information includes photos of the outside & inside of these properties and a layout of the houses which include measurements. All this information supports my claim .
My question is , is there any other evidence I can send them which can be used in my 2nd review? They said they are unable to measure the other properties in question , so it is upto the person making the challenge to supply any evidence.
I have used all the tools which are on the Martin Lewis website and these suggest I may be in the correct band , however if the other properties in my road are band E , than mine should definitely be a band E too- there must have been a challenge at some point from all the owners of the band E properties as they were all band F at some point. The office must agree these are band E properties otherwise the banding on these properties would have changed after I made my challenge in April.
I live in a 3 bed semi detached , most of the band F properties are 4 or 5 bed, detached homes with side extensions and loft extensions, the system feels so unfair. The other band F properties in my road are a lot bigger than mine. After my first appeal the VOA officer said all the properties I mentioned , apart from one, were smaller than mine, this is not true, and I'm hoping the information I provided from Rightmove can be used.
Is there anything else I should be doing- the VOA also said that after this 2nd review , if they reject my appeal again , I can not take it any further as I purchased the property 4 years ago, is this correct?
Thank you so much for any help anyone can give me.