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

princess23

princess23 wrote: »

I wonder if anybody could help me with this. Like many of you I have taken Martins advice to contact the VOA to challenge our Council Tax band. I was told that basically if i could find two properties (one of which he told me was on the same estate as us) and the other within a two mile radius with the same square footage they would be able to do something about changing it. He wouldn't tell me anymore information saying it would open a can of worms!! Therefore my question is , is there anyway to find out a list of properties within a twho mile radius to us sowing the square footage of the properties this is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

Just spoke to them again today (VOA) and would not give me the number of the property that has the same square footage as ours telling me to do my research im fuming! :mad:

Gkc

Yes they wouldn't help. Go to Zoopla or rightmove and look for sold prices. They have historical adds which usually have a floor plan and square footage. You can put your post code and select radius.

Birdman2015

I have recently moved into a 4 year old house. The council tax banding is F but I have a small doubt that this could be incorrect. I have done the various checks on Martin's article and it makes any appeal seem unlikely to succeed but....

Our valuation was £340,000 on a bungalow at 136sqm and we are Band F. However, in another phase of the development built 2 years ago a house recently sold . It had a valuation of £342,000 and a size of 146sqm so larger than ours and slightly higher valuation but it is listed at band E.

Will this have any bearing on our banding or is there any point in taking this further?

lincroft1710

Birdman2015 wrote: »

I have recently moved into a 4 year old house. The council tax banding is F but I have a small doubt that this could be incorrect. I have done the various checks on Martin's article and it makes any appeal seem unlikely to succeed but....

Our valuation was £340,000 on a bungalow at 136sqm and we are Band F. However, in another phase of the development built 2 years ago a house recently sold . It had a valuation of £342,000 and a size of 146sqm so larger than ours and slightly higher valuation but it is listed at band E.

Will this have any bearing on our banding or is there any point in taking this further?

Is £340K your purchase price and was £342K the purchase price of the other property? Are these bungalows or houses? Who calculated the sizes?

There is the possibility that the Band E could be incorrect

Fireclown

I bought my house in 1991 when it was broadly the same as all my nearest neighbours. Since then all my neighbours houses have been extended (extra floors over garages. Loft conversions etc)/ According to the online register we are all in the same Council tax band.
My question is when does rebranding take place in the case of extensions? Also Could we challenge our band in the light ot all the changes ?

lincroft1710

Fireclown wrote: »

I bought my house in 1991 when it was broadly the same as all my nearest neighbours. Since then all my neighbours houses have been extended (extra floors over garages. Loft conversions etc)/ According to the online register we are all in the same Council tax band.
My question is when does rebranding take place in the case of extensions? Also Could we challenge our band in the light ot all the changes ?

As you bought your home in 1991, you should instantly know if the CT band is correct from the price you paid. Extensions will not always lead to a CT band increase, but a band can only be increased on account of an extension where the extension was carried out by a previous owner. So until a house is sold its band cannot be increased.

Just because neighbours now have larger houses than yours is not grounds for a CT band reduction.

feltonam

Local Borough Council: West Lancashire
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: D

Only lived here for less than a year so didn't get much back but saving around £50 a month on payments. Very happy I just collected details of similar properties in the area in band D and also sent details of the house size and floor space plus it's known sale history going back 10 years. It took about 3 months to get a reply but well worth the wait.

janeyandpaul

Nuneaton
Band reduction from C to B
Refund £3141.00
Currently a saving of approx £180 per year.

Our banding has been back dated to 1993!
Massive thanks to the MSE web site, I'm now sharing my success with friends & family of the potential saving they can make.
Glad I done my homework first as I was questioned by the Valuation Office as to why I think I'm entitled to a reduction.
Chuffed to bits ��

fatboyonadiet

Is there anyway to find out how much my property originally sold for? (Around 1998)

Dollar_Park

I wonder how successful Martin's advice has been in Scotland. For me, it hasn't. I live in a street of very similar houses (with very similar values at the year in question) but I'm one band higher. In Scotland, request for a re-assessment can only be made under two conditions - roughly within a set period after purchase or within a set time after the purchase of a neighbouring property (by a new owner). Being emboldened by Martin's advice that a certain 'elasticity' was being encouraged, I asked politely and was knocked back at once with the 'legitimation' rationale - i.e. it was not a legitimate request because it was not made under either of the two conditions. Of course, I could appeal and the appeal would go to a board hearing BUT (and here's the crux) although I could attend I could observe only and no additional evidence could be presented.
Hmm! Elasticity? Flexibility? I don't think so. At the time the new series of 'Fargo' had just started on C4 with a scene - set in some Eastern European dictatorship where sad, sweating little guy is hauled in front of uniformed, bureaucratic big guy. "You are Viktor Slabo (or some such name)?" says big guy. Little guy is relieved: being Viktor Slabo obviously means a trip to the labour camp, but he isn't him! "Ah," he says, "No, he used to live in my house. I am not him." "So you are saying the State is wrong?" says big guy. Little guy knows this means a trip to the labour camp!."No, no, of course the State isn't wrong," he stammers. "So you are Viktor Slabo?" says big guy.
Any resemblance to this, of course, fictional scenario and the case of requesting a re-assessment from the office of the Assessor and Electoral Registration for Central Scotland is entirely accidental. Of course.