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

Maisie

stphnstevey wrote:

But the VOA website says it has been in force since 1995?

Is that when the extension was done?

Hootie19

Right, I've decided that we've nothing to lose if we are rejected, so we are going to give this a go. No matter which way we look at it, the 1991 valuation comes out at Band C, and we have always been Band D.

We live on a large late 50s/early 60s built estate, with the properties all being more or less the same. As far as I can see the only difference is that some have upstairs bathrooms (ours) and some have downstairs bathrooms.

From a look around the VOA site, there is a mixture of Bands C and D properties (I looked at our street, the immediate adjoining streets, and one street which is three streets away), so - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

We have been in the house 13 years so can't challenge it under the 6 month rule.

Does anyone know of any letter templates to send to the Local Listing Officer to set the wheels in motion?

TIA

lou1970

Hope one of you lovely people can help here!
I followed the method, went online to VOA and today got a letter saying invalid claim due to time limits, along with another letter asking for supporting evidence and agreeing to look at banding! Confused - I am.
Major problem is that despite advising our billing Authority (SBDC) of the change of address in April we did not receive a bill until December, very conveniently after the 6 month period. Repeatedly over the years, (including the time I worked for them) I have been told there is nothing I can do.
On the plus side I still have the Agents sale particulars from 93 clearly showing the market value of the property - will this help?
Any ideas and tips will be greatfully received.
Many thanks

watcherman

Does anyone have any thoughts re this post I made, http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=4357014&postcount=718

It seems this received a huge splash of publicity, but I don't remember Martin mentioning the 6mth rule. If he did, was there a workaround, if anyone found one, I am sure he has

TIA

stphnstevey

Maisie wrote:

Is that when the extension was done?

Yes, the extension was done in 1985

bye_bye_band_G

Hootie19.
Sample letter: to your local VOA:

I have recently looked into my council tax banding and believe it to be incorrect. It is currently D whereas I think it should be C.
I realise that as I have lived in my property for more than 6 months, I am ineligible to make a formal appeal, but as the Listing Officer has a statutory duty to maintain an accurate and consistent list, I would ask you to re-assess my banding. I understand this carries no right of appeal if your decision is that the list is correct.
My reasons for requesting a reassessment are as follows -
And then you list all the houses you can find which are nearly identical to yours but Band C.
Look on estate agent's websites for houses similar to yours and the tax band will usually be listed, include the Band Cs.
Best of all would be to include newspaper sales ads from 1991 showing similar houses to yours which are Band C.
You can throw in the Nationwide House Price Indicator if this works for you, but don't rely on it as your main source of evidence - they will say it is only a VERY rough guide.
Good luck.


lou1970. The 1993 estate agent's particulars are great, and exactly the best sort of evidence - YOUR house, up for sale at (nearly) the right time. But caution - although Council Tax came in in 1993, the bands are based on 1991 prices. There was a falling market in the two years 91 -93, so whatever price you've got for 93, the price would have been somewhat higher in 91. This may tip you just into the higher band, so be sure of your figures.

MOOK_2

Hi, I'm new to this forum but wondered if anyone could give me some advice. My partner and I recently requested that rebanding of our property was looked into by our local valuation office. Our first application was online and deemed invalid, we then sent a letter to appeal and now we have been informed this will go to tribunal. We've followed all the advice on Martins website and we know based on the fact that the other houses on our street exactly the same size are on a band less than us and were definately valued below £40,000 in 1991. Because we don't fall under there criteria for applying for rebanding in 1993 ( when we weren't here ! ) or within 6 months of moving in ( we didn't know we could request debanding ) it looks as though we'll still have to pay more and get no rebate. What should we do next...Go to tribunal or call it a day ? Can anyone advise the next step.:mad:

bye_bye_band_G

Anyone who is further down the line and got their rebate.
Any news on requests for interest due back on 14 years of overpayment?
I wrote to the council saying I had given them an interest-free loan for all these years and would like to be reimbursed and this was their reply -

'I regret to inform you that I am unable to consider requests for interest. The Council has continued to issue accurate bills based on the information provided at each stage by the Valuation Officer.'

Any comments on this, anyone? I think some of you were more successful than this.

lou1970

lou1970. The 1993 estate agent's particulars are great, and exactly the best sort of evidence - YOUR house, up for sale at (nearly) the right time. But caution - although Council Tax came in in 1993, the bands are based on 1991 prices. There was a falling market in the two years 91 -93, so whatever price you've got for 93, the price would have been somewhat higher in 91. This may tip you just into the higher band, so be sure of your figures.[/QUOTE]


Thanks - I did think of that but the other 2 (band c)properties which adjoin ours are 3 bed, fully modernised and to be quite frank ours was, and still is a bit of a wreck although we have made some improvements. The Nationwide guesstimator put us at £46k in 91 from an asking price of £48k - we bought for £40k in 93. Prop had structural probs and was under investigation for subsidence which I believe affects market value as does lack of double glazing etc. consider we live on a main road too! fingers crossed!!

praven

pvsol wrote:

Just a thought........... my husband is registered as the council tax payer for our house.... if I rung the council and had the account transferred into my name......I then become a new Council Tax payer and I can claim under the 6 month rule? Does anyone think this is worth a try???

I don't think you need to bother. The 6 month rule seems to be totally irrelevant because the valuation office is obliged to investigate your banding if you think you have a case. I wrote to them with my evidence and they went straight into an investigation despite the fact that we've been living here for 3 years.