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

westie2128

lincroft1710 said:

westie2128 said:

westie2128 said:

Complaint submitted although they aren’t even committing to a response within 4 weeks 🙄 their complaints team must be busy!

Thank you for your email to the Valuation Office Agency’s Complaints Investigation Team. Please accept this email as a formal acknowledgement of receipt.

In relation to formal complaints, we will deal with these as soon as possible, however we may not be able to provide a reply within the 20 workings days we would usually aim for.

Oh look, nearly 3 weeks after I sent my complaint, the caseworker emails me! He asked for information relating to the modernisation work we have done since we lived here which I’ve replied back to him. 

He’s now said the complaints investigation team will respond separately but in the meantime he will send the information I’ve suppled to the “technical lead” @lincroft1710 - any idea what they do? 

And signed off by saying they’ll now be investigating to see if the neighbours bands need increasing. 

Sorry but "technical lead" is a term new to me.

Thank you anyway

Penguinloz said:

westie2128 said:

westie2128 said:

Complaint submitted although they aren’t even committing to a response within 4 weeks 🙄 their complaints team must be busy!

Thank you for your email to the Valuation Office Agency’s Complaints Investigation Team. Please accept this email as a formal acknowledgement of receipt.

In relation to formal complaints, we will deal with these as soon as possible, however we may not be able to provide a reply within the 20 workings days we would usually aim for.

Oh look, nearly 3 weeks after I sent my complaint, the caseworker emails me! He asked for information relating to the modernisation work we have done since we lived here which I’ve replied back to him. 

He’s now said the complaints investigation team will respond separately but in the meantime he will send the information I’ve suppled to the “technical lead” @lincroft1710 - any idea what they do? 

And signed off by saying they’ll now be investigating to see if the neighbours bands need increasing. 

A technical lead is a more senior member of staff who cases are referred to if there is a technicality that needs clarifying and they give caseworkers technical advice. 

Ahhh ok, thanks. Hopefully that means they are actually properly looking at my case now 🤞🏼

Their reason for refusal of rebanding initially was that my property must have been modernised (Victorian terrace) but it wasn’t, not before 1993. So they’ve asked for a list of what work we carried out and dates etc which I’ve sent. 

Plus a 300+ list of comparable properties in the streets leading off mine which are the same group, design, age as mine and same size or bigger and all lower banding, of which a high proportion have sold over the years and never increased bands, which was their other reasoning for not rebanding mine. 

So let’s see ….. 

lincroft1710

westie2128 said:

Plus a 300+ list of comparable properties in the streets leading off mine which are the same group, design, age as mine and same size or bigger and all lower banding, of which a high proportion have sold over the years and never increased bands, which was their other reasoning for not rebanding mine. 

Plus a 300+ list of comparable properties in the streets leading off mine which are the same group, design, age as mine and same size or bigger and all lower banding, of which a high proportion have sold over the years and never increased bands, which was their other reasoning for not rebanding mine. 

 

I think 300 plus is a little excessive, I'd doubt if the VOA looked beyond the first 50.

westie2128

lincroft1710 said:

westie2128 said:

Plus a 300+ list of comparable properties in the streets leading off mine which are the same group, design, age as mine and same size or bigger and all lower banding, of which a high proportion have sold over the years and never increased bands, which was their other reasoning for not rebanding mine. 

Plus a 300+ list of comparable properties in the streets leading off mine which are the same group, design, age as mine and same size or bigger and all lower banding, of which a high proportion have sold over the years and never increased bands, which was their other reasoning for not rebanding mine. 

 

I think 300 plus is a little excessive, I'd doubt if the VOA looked beyond the first 50.

It was in answer to them saying “I have looked carefully at the pattern of bandings in your area and I can confirm that it upholds the tonal evidence to support your properties banding”

Leithpolice

I have noticed many people get refunds going back years, and also rebanding going back years. How can you do this when councils won't address any rebanding if it is more than 6 months after you moved in ?

lincroft1710

Leithpolice said:

I have noticed many people get refunds going back years, and also rebanding going back years. How can you do this when councils won't address any rebanding if it is more than 6 months after you moved in ?

You can ask for a CT band review from the VOA (Eng and Wales) or the Assessor (Scot) if you are out of time to make a formal appeal. But there is no right of appeal against their decision.

justboris

Hi All,

Council Tax challenge

I have a leasehold flat:

- head lease late 1988

- Freehold owned by Community Benefit Society (CBS) - a not-for-profit landlord.

- First lease was for just over £17k.

- It's a small one bed flat on band B.

Am I looking for the *lease* value at 1 April 1991? or some other number, perhaps an adjusted lease value?

I haven't as yet looked on the Land Registry for the subsequent leases - I can see mine is there; will the pre-1991 leases (and cost) be listed?

Or am I going about the whole thing in the wrong way?

My Google-foo on the search thing isn't working out terribly well. I didn't find anything that was really helpful and refuse to believe that this question hasn't been asked before! Apologies.

Thank you in advance.

Al.

lincroft1710

justboris said:

Hi All,

Council Tax challenge

I have a leasehold flat:

- head lease late 1988

- Freehold owned by Community Benefit Society (CBS) - a not-for-profit landlord.

- First lease was for just over £17k.

- It's a small one bed flat on band B.

Am I looking for the *lease* value at 1 April 1991? or some other number, perhaps an adjusted lease value?

I haven't as yet looked on the Land Registry for the subsequent leases - I can see mine is there; will the pre-1991 leases (and cost) be listed?

Or am I going about the whole thing in the wrong way?

My Google-foo on the search thing isn't working out terribly well. I didn't find anything that was really helpful and refuse to believe that this question hasn't been asked before! Apologies.

Thank you in advance.

Al.

You will be looking for the open market sale price of a leasehold flat of the same size and age as yours as at 1 April 1991. The only problem is that pre 1994 sale prices are not in the public domain. The status of the freeholder is irrelevant.


If the other flats in the block are Band B, then you are going to have an uphill struggle. You are going have to try to find similar flats in Band A.

99redballs

Hi I can’t find this anywhere and I did email in to Martin , but I suppose not many in my situation. 

We bought our 2 bed house 45,000 in 1992.
It was in the wrong band then. But being young and not knowing the system we felt we couldn’t do anything . Since then (20 years ago) we’ve added two extra bedrooms where the garage was . 

If we contess the valuation band , could they re value it and put it in a higher band , Or is the valuation banding  only based on price at 1991 and nothing else? 

lincroft1710

99redballs said:

Hi I can’t find this anywhere and I did email in to Martin , but I suppose not many in my situation. 

We bought our 2 bed house 45,000 in 1992.
It was in the wrong band then. But being young and not knowing the system we felt we couldn’t do anything . Since then (20 years ago) we’ve added two extra bedrooms where the garage was . 

If we contess the valuation band , could they re value it and put it in a higher band , Or is the valuation banding  only based on price at 1991 and nothing else? 

 

You do not state which band you are in. CT started in 1993, so are you certain you bought your house in 1992 rather than 1993. If you are in Band C and you did buy in 1993 then because of the fall in property values, it may be in the correct band.


A CT band cannot be increased on account of alterations to the property carried out by the current owner after 1 April 1993. So your band will not be increased on account of the 2 bedrooms you added