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

davem13

I've also got to add my thanks to Maisie for her original post (and Martin of course). I spotted the previous thread about ten days before the 6-month cut-off, so had no argument from the valuation officer. While the council tax bands are based on property values on 1 April 1991, I made my successful application by pointing out that two nearby properties had sold within the last couple of years for similar prices to mine and yet one was two bands lower and one was one band lower. This site gives free house price listing:

http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/

Using Royal Mail's post-code listing, I was able to draw up a map of all the houses in my area and I then added their current council tax bands. This was quite an effective (and graphical) argument for when the valuation officer visited. So my advice is: do your home-work.

By the way: I was initially worried that my rate might actually increase, as it turned out that the valuation board had not taken into account some property improvements done by a previous owner. In the end this didn't count against me but it is a risk people should be aware of. I was told that council tax banding re-evaluation is only done when a property is sold. So if you make improvements which might result in a higher council tax band, it'll only affect the next owner, not you. Did I understand this correctly?

Maisie

davem13 wrote:

I've also got to add my thanks to Maisie for her original post (and Martin of course). I spotted the previous thread about ten days before the 6-month cut-off, so had no argument from the valuation officer. While the council tax bands are based on property values on 1 April 1991, I made my successful application by pointing out that two nearby properties had sold within the last couple of years for similar prices to mine and yet one was two bands lower and one was one band lower. This site gives free house price listing:

http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/

Using Royal Mail's post-code listing, I was able to draw up a map of all the houses in my area and I then added their current council tax bands. This was quite an effective (and graphical) argument for when the valuation officer visited. So my advice is: do your home-work.

By the way: I was initially worried that my rate might actually increase, as it turned out that the valuation board had not taken into account some property improvements done by a previous owner. In the end this didn't count against me but it is a risk people should be aware of. I was told that council tax banding re-evaluation is only done when a property is sold. So if you make improvements which might result in a higher council tax band, it'll only affect the next owner, not you. Did I understand this correctly?

3

That's great news Davem. Glad my original post helped.

It seems to be that after improving the house the council tax banding is not changed until the house is sold.

You certainly did your homework and that would have gone a long way in getting your rebanding.

Spread the word to check council tax banding at https://www.voa.gov.uk

Maisie OP

paul8811

jamesiebabie wrote:

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.

Thanks, according to that I should be well into Band D & not E so will give them a call on Monday.

jamesiebabie

paul8811 wrote:

Thanks, according to that I should be well into Band D & not E so will give them a call on Monday.

Good luck and keep me informed. If you need any help PM me with your details and I'll see what I can do to help.

Woodturner_2

We followed the link and discovered that our house which is identical to our neighbours was banded one higher than his. To cut the story short we appealed and the banding was reduced, resulting in a rebate of about £3000 pounds. The new rate was taken back to 1993 which is why the rebate was so nice. This tip was certainly good for us.:j

Maisie

Woodturner wrote:

We followed the link and discovered that our house which is identical to our neighbours was banded one higher than his. To cut the story short we appealed and the banding was reduced, resulting in a rebate of about £3000 pounds. The new rate was taken back to 1993 which is why the rebate was so nice. This tip was certainly good for us.:j

Wow Woodturner!! That's a fantastic rebate and you'll pay less in the future on a lower band.

Thanks for letting us all know.

Glad my original post on the closed thread helped.

Let's hear some more success stories to encourage other MSEs to check their council tax banding at https://www.voa.gov.uk

Maisie OP

jamesiebabie

Woodturner wrote:

We followed the link and discovered that our house which is identical to our neighbours was banded one higher than his. To cut the story short we appealed and the banding was reduced, resulting in a rebate of about £3000 pounds. The new rate was taken back to 1993 which is why the rebate was so nice. This tip was certainly good for us.:j

Woodturner,

Did you get any compensation from the VOA. I understand that you will get a rebate from the Billing Authority, however, if you also pursue the VOA by contacting the Group Customer Service Manager, you may well also get the interest back, if they deem that they should have done an initial 'consequential' reduction originally.

It is always worth a go. If you need any advice, please PM me.

Well done on your success.

halloweenqueen_2

HAve just been told I am due for £800 rebate!!!! YAAAAAYYYY!!!
To get the interest on the money back would be nice! I have to query it though as they seemed to have missed one year out that I should have been refunded for.

Annie021063

Hi
Just to update on my claim - I have had a letter from the VOA this morning saying they want to visit the property to survey it in relation to my claim. Does this follow normal path?? If so what time scale am I looking at to finalise claim?
Well done to those who have been sucessfull and good luck to those on route to claiming.
Thanks to original OP

Annie021063

halloweenqueen wrote:

HAve just been told I am due for £800 rebate!!!! YAAAAAYYYY!!!
To get the interest on the money back would be nice! I have to query it though as they seemed to have missed one year out that I should have been refunded for.

How long has this taken from your original letter? How many bands did you drop? And how long have you been in property?
Sorry for questions
Well done though:j - will you be adding it to £1024 challenge?? you have deffo won if you do!!!