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

Scully's_Girl

Hey Misty, just call or write the valuations office and appeal. We were in our house 5 years and won our appeal, because it is their responsibility to ensure the records are correct. This just means you cannot appeal via the website, since that has a 6 month limit I believe. But call or write them (I did both) and you may see results. Good Luck!

Bill_Badger

Thanks to all who contributed to this - It came along just at the right time. I was worried about my extension raising the banding, but I not only found that it won't increase until I move, but my neighbours were also on a lower band. The result is that I will be on a new lower band, it won't increase because of my extension, and that I'm to get just over £1000 back!

Maisie

Bill_Badger wrote:

Thanks to all who contributed to this - It came along just at the right time. I was worried about my extension raising the banding, but I not only found that it won't increase until I move, but my neighbours were also on a lower band. The result is that I will be on a new lower band, it won't increase because of my extension, and that I'm to get just over £1000 back!

That's terrific news Bill Badger. A new extension and at a lower banding! Can't be bad.

Your situation shows another variance in council tax banding and getting a refund and should encourage others to appeal.

Pass the word on . Check your banding https://www.voa.gov.uk.

Well done. BB .

Maisie OP

jamesiebabie

misty wrote:

I've come to this thread v late and have read all of it but still a bit unclear. I've checked my property (rented)against the others in the cul de sac. Most are band A but mine - 1 side next door and 1 other further down the road are band B. None of these houses is bigger/smaller etc than any of the band A houses. My next door neighbour on the other side is band A and her house is the mirror image to mine. I've appealed on the website but as I have lived here 10 months, I assume I'll be unsuccessfull. How do I go about the next appeal - do they send you a form or do I just appeal saying it is unfair as the other houses are the same size etc?
thanks in advance

Misty,

What you need to do is phone up your local Valuation Office and ask to speak to the Council Tax department and tell them that you have been in your property for 10 months and that you beleive that you are in the wrong band. At that time try and help them with the addresses of those properties that you believe are the same as yours. You should also take note of whom you spoke with and their direct telephone number for future reference. You can even request that they write to you to acknowledge your call, that way you will have everything documented.

I hope that helps. Keep me informed.

bigliz

Hm, according to the VOA website my house doesn't exist, strange how I pay £58pm council tax then :mad: anyone else had this problem?

Edited to ask if there is a website that tells you how much each band costs (the bill rather than the valuation,) thanks

thegreybeard

Yes, it is easy to find the council taxes that your local authority is charging.

Go to http://www.upmystreet.com/smarter-living/council-tax/l/w4+1bp.html

Type your own postcade under "Your Location" and all the council taxes for all bands in your area will be shown.

Don't forget, they will be before any discounts that may apply - if any.

Scully's_Girl

Feeling pretty good, my husband and I went round to the only other person on the road in the F band. When I first checked 2 months ago 4 of us were in band F, all the others were band E. We successfully argued it, getting back around £800. Number 3 also successfully had theirs changed, and number 1 is doing so now, which left only one poor soul in F. He thought we were selling something at first, and was happy to hear we were just being neighbourly.

paul8811

I live in a newly built flat (18 months old) its on a large development with all flats pretty much the same value. However I believe that our CT is excessive at nearly £1800 per year on a 2 bed flat worth £240k.

How would I go about appealing this considering our neighbours are all in the same position as us?

Annie021063

madshopper wrote:

Paul you can go to www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/ where you can input your figs and it will tell you the estimated value in 1991. We did a successful appeal using this as supporting info and archive info from the local property pages in April 1991

According to this site my property should be in the band below what it is currently in - we should be in band C not D. Where do I go from here then. Also the area has changed over the last few years with new industrial units and a new housing estate near us which has resulted in a huge increase iof traffic going along the road which is at the bakc of our house - we are sure this will have reduced the value.
Would appreciate anyone's advice here
Thanks

Right have just written letter to my VOA stating my claim and why - I reckon my entitlement is about £858 refund. Will keep you all posted.

jamesiebabie

paul8811 wrote:

I live in a newly built flat (18 months old) its on a large development with all flats pretty much the same value. However I believe that our CT is excessive at nearly £1800 per year on a 2 bed flat worth £240k.

How would I go about appealing this considering our neighbours are all in the same position as us?

OK, the approach depends on how long you have been in your property. Have you been in residence for over 6 months? If the answer is ,no, then you can phone up the Valuation Office and ask for an appeal form.

You then need to use the attached link to give you a guide price as to what your house was worth, had it been built back in 1991. So us the attached link and fill in the relevant boxes.
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/

If the answer is, yes, and you are quite sure that the banding will either stay the same or go down, then you need to phone the valuation office and state that you beleive your banding is too high. Use the above link to give you a guide price and then apply that figure to the Banding scheme.

You can also check other properties nearby for their banding if you use the link attached to my signature.

If you ever phone the VOA up always take a note of the persons name and direct telephone number, so that you can chase them up. Make sure that it is all documented and that you would like to receive a letter of confirmation of the phone call. You should then be up and running.

If you have any problems, just post another message on here and I should respond within a day or so.

I hope that helps.