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

gatchamandave

everywhere

gatchamandave

Now is the time to say Goodbye

hk_chick

came across this little article on MSN today:

http://money.uk.msn.com/tax/articles/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2773588


it does mention things martins has already warned us about i.e. banding could potentially go up, not down

I hadn't considered that it may affect resale value. or is this just propaganda & hype in an attempt to stop us? :rolleyes:

I put my claim in yesterday....

fred_flower

hk_chick wrote:

came across this little article on MSN today:

http://money.uk.msn.com/tax/articles/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2773588

When I try the link I just get a blank page. Please can you check and confirm the link.

Thanks

Mummy_Jo

Just wondering if anyone can help.

My parents have complained bitterly since the introduction of the council tax system that its banding is unfair. All of the houses in the street were grouped into band b. The thing is that the ones at one end of the street are 3 bedroom houses and the ones at the other are 2 bedroom bungalows. There is a difference in what they are worth as well.
Some years ago (before 2000, I think it might have been the mid 90s) the house next door was sold . It was on the market for £28000. Not sure what it eventually went for. Have tried to check on the land registry site but there is no price information available for that house.

According to the site that Martin directed us to my parents house was worth £27000 in 1991 - well below the £40000 threshold. Has anyone come across a similar situation and if so how did they go about submiting a claim. As the whole street appears to be banded as b they can not argue that houses of a similar nature are banded differently.

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Jo

fred_flower

Mummy_Jo wrote:

Just wondering if anyone can help.

My parents have complained bitterly since the introduction of the council tax system that its banding is unfair. All of the houses in the street were grouped into band b. The thing is that the ones at one end of the street are 3 bedroom houses and the ones at the other are 2 bedroom bungalows. There is a difference in what they are worth as well.
Some years ago (before 2000, I think it might have been the mid 90s) the house next door was sold . It was on the market for £28000. Not sure what it eventually went for. Have tried to check on the land registry site but there is no price information available for that house.

According to the site that Martin directed us to my parents house was worth £27000 in 1991 - well below the £40000 threshold. Has anyone come across a similar situation and if so how did they go about submiting a claim. As the whole street appears to be banded as b they can not argue that houses of a similar nature are banded differently.

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Jo

This sounds like a similar sitution to mine - see my email #587. I'm still waiting for a reply from anyone who might have experienced the same and hopefully successfully claimed.

fred_flower

fred_flower wrote:

This sounds like a similar sitution to mine - see my email #587. I'm still waiting for a reply from anyone who might have experienced the same and hopefully successfully claimed.

Ooops, that should be #589 :embarasse

barnyard_2

Hi

First time poster to this great site.
I started the rebanding ball rolling in early December, 2006. I live on the end of a terrace of 6 houses in Derbyshire Dales DC area. The two end terraces are in band D, while all the rest are in C. Our house is a mirror image in most respects of the adjoining house, which also has a double basement (ours has none), a detached garage across the road (ours has none, but does have parking for two cars in the drive) and a huge garden at the back of our property, which could seem to belong to us but does not.

I appealed on-line and was rejected because:

'As you are aware your appeal was registered as invalid because you did not appeal within the required 6 months from when you became the Council Tax payer for the property.
'Just to confirm that the Tribunal will only deal with the question of the validity of the appeal only and will not be able to discuss the band'.
We moved into our property in 1997 - it cost us £ 92,000 and was sold in 1993 for £ 80,000-odd. The next door house was sold also in 1997 for
£ 60,000 odd even though it would go for more than ours today, or at least the same.
Any idea what I should say to the tribunal? Do these cases usually get as far as the tribunal or do they VOA prefer to settle beforehand?

Thanks for any comments.

Zebedeee

Fred_flower and Mummy Jo -

I'd suggest a couple of ideas to get some evidence, as the house price indicator is only an indicator, and doesn't count as 'evidence' as such.

Firstly, go to your local library and get archives from the local paper from quarter 1, 1991 to see what prices houses simillar to yours were being sold for then. They won't be the exact price they went for, but will give you a good idea. If they would put your house well into the lower band then go for it.

Secondly, have a look at streets adjacent to yours and check their bandings. If, all other things being equal, they are on a lower band then I'd say you have got a good leg to stand on!

Hope that helps!

Zebedee

Zebedeee

barnyard wrote:

Hi

I appealed on-line and was rejected because:

'As you are aware your appeal was registered as invalid because you did not appeal within the required 6 months from when you became the Council Tax payer for the property.
'Just to confirm that the Tribunal will only deal with the question of the validity of the appeal only and will not be able to discuss the band'.
We moved into our property in 1997 - it cost us £ 92,000 and was sold in 1993 for £ 80,000-odd. The next door house was sold also in 1997 for
£ 60,000 odd even though it would go for more than ours today, or at least the same.
Any idea what I should say to the tribunal? Do these cases usually get as far as the tribunal or do they VOA prefer to settle beforehand?

Thanks for any comments.

This is what happened to me, barnyard. If you have been in the property and paying the council tax more than 6 months I don't think there is any way you can win that appeal. But that does not mean that all is lost. You need to find another way to appeal. For example, has anything changed in your neighbourhood which would cause it to be devalued? Or if a property in a simillar situation to yours has won an appeal in the last 6 months you may get an appeal too. Check out post #579 for a full list of possibilities.

Hope that helps!

Zebedee