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

Altarf

Teresa60 wrote: »

I dont want to trawl this this whole thread to see if I can find an answer, can you help? We moved into a 2 bed semi in 2006 and have extended it to 4 bedrooms. We are in Band B, but people in the same road have extended their semi and are in Band C. Who would you think is in the right Band? Or how can I can compare?

The extension you added after you moved in will not effect your council tax band until you sell the house. The same is true of your neighbours (assuming that the extension was done by them, not before they bought it). So in reality you are comparing your un-extended house with their un-extended house.

If the houses are identical then they should be in the same band, unless there is a good reason why one should be worth less than the other (for example nearer to something unpleasant). If they are not identical then theirs could be worth £1 more than yours which has tipped them into band C.

lorrs58

Hi
I applied for rebanding last Feb 2006. It was classed as an invalid proposal, but I appealed this. It was considered under the fair and consistent rule.

After a visit from the Valuation Officer, she still upheld that my banding was correct. I am the only house in my post code in Band B. This decision has never sat right in my mind, but I have a lot of things to deal with during the last 12 months.

What are my chances now of going to tribuneral. What do I need to do?
Is it too late?.

Altarf

lorrs58 wrote: »

Hi
I applied for rebanding last Feb 2006. It was classed as an invalid proposal, but I appealed this. It was considered under the fair and consistent rule.

After a visit from the Valuation Officer, she still upheld that my banding was correct. I am the only house in my post code in Band B. This decision has never sat right in my mind, but I have a lot of things to deal with during the last 12 months.

What are my chances now of going to tribunal. What do I need to do?
Is it too late?.

You cannot go to tribunal unless you have are within 6 months of moving into the house or have one of the other reasons to appeal. So you chances of going to tribunal are probably zero.

As for your grounds for a review, without trying to sound too critical, there seem to be a huge number of posts from people who's only basis for asking for a review is saying my house is band Z and everybody else in the area is band A, so mine must be wrong. That may well be the case, but some additional evidence is going to make your case a whole lot stronger and easier to argue.

In your case are all the other houses that you are comparing to exactly the same or just similar? What do you think that your house was worth in 1991 and what is your evidence (preferably something more than the house price calculators). Once you have assembled your evidence contact the VOA and point out the anomalies, and that although they have already reviewed the case, did they consider this, this and that. Don't treat them as the enemy, but ask why they think that your house should be band B, when other properties are band A.

But at the end of the day you must realise that with bandings there are cut off points. If the other houses are not identical they may only have been worth £40,000 in 1991 and yours £1 more at £40,001 to put you into different bands. It's not fair, but that's the way it is.

jamesiebabie

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

My council tax reduction is from Band F to Band E. From August 2002 to present date. Council say that I will receive a cheque in the post.

BUT, can I reclaim the interest from the council also seeing as they have been overcharging me for the last 5 years.

If so, how do I find out how much interest I should receive. Are there any sites that let you know.

skcollobcat10

It is not the council that have got it wrong, but the VOA and therefore there is a possibility to reclaim the interest. What you have to do is to approach the Group Customer Service Manager and explain the circumstances. they will have to do the leg work. Make sure that you make it clear that you want a written response and not just a verbal one. Once they have sent you their answer let me know what it says and I will try and help if the first go is unsuccessful. I have helped several people on this forum to help them attain their compensation.

Kind regards

J

jamesiebabie

Altarf wrote: »

You cannot go to tribunal unless you have are within 6 months of moving into the house or have one of the other reasons to appeal. So you chances of going to tribunal are probably zero.

As for your grounds for a review, without trying to sound too critical, there seem to be a huge number of posts from people who's only basis for asking for a review is saying my house is band Z and everybody else in the area is band A, so mine must be wrong. That may well be the case, but some additional evidence is going to make your case a whole lot stronger and easier to argue.

In your case are all the other houses that you are comparing to exactly the same or just similar? What do you think that your house was worth in 1991 and what is your evidence (preferably something more than the house price calculators). Once you have assembled your evidence contact the VOA and point out the anomalies, and that although they have already reviewed the case, did they consider this, this and that. Don't treat them as the enemy, but ask why they think that your house should be band B, when other properties are band A.

But at the end of the day you must realise that with bandings there are cut off points. If the other houses are not identical they may only have been worth £40,000 in 1991 and yours £1 more at £40,001 to put you into different bands. It's not fair, but that's the way it is.

This good advice for everyone to follow, but you should all be looking at the VOA website to see if any of the houses in the postcode have been appealed and subsequently rebanded. I would also make use of the 'Fredom of Information Act' and request details of all those properties in your postcode. The VOA have a database and can easliy extract all the data. The data will include all the relevant details that are pertinant to your request for rebanding. Make it clear that it is a FOI request and they will get the info to you pdq as they only have 40 dayys from request.

I hope this helps.

J

cooperjul

Hi need help again please!

After appealing my council tax banding i was told "you are out of time, you should have appealed within 6 months and you haven't" at this stage i gave up but, one of my neighbours who is in the same house type as myself has pursued it further, as she phoned the valuation officer when she got her notice of banding and was told there was no point in appealing. She has now to go to a tribunual but has been told they are not going to look at the banding they are only going to discuss wither or not she has a right to appeal. Does this make any sense? is this normal practice? at the end of the day these houses were only built in 2004-2005 and houses with a higher valuation are in a lower band in my opinion it's black and white, should they not be ensuring there is an accurate council tax list.

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

guppy

cooperjul wrote: »

Hi need help again please!

After appealing my council tax banding i was told "you are out of time, you should have appealed within 6 months and you haven't" at this stage i gave up but, one of my neighbours who is in the same house type as myself has pursued it further, as she phoned the valuation officer when she got her notice of banding and was told there was no point in appealing. She has now to go to a tribunual but has been told they are not going to look at the banding they are only going to discuss wither or not she has a right to appeal. Does this make any sense? is this normal practice? at the end of the day these houses were only built in 2004-2005 and houses with a higher valuation are in a lower band in my opinion it's black and white, should they not be ensuring there is an accurate council tax list.

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

If the appeal against the banding is outside the initial six months then it will be out of time and therefore invalid.

An appeal to the Tribunal can only be against the invalidity - not the banding. They can only consider whether the Valuation Officer has acted correctly in finding the appeal invalid (which is a question of fact, there are no excuses to my knowledge).

However, the VO does have a duty to maintain an accurate list and will normally automatically check the band as a seperate issue.

Also if the appeal against the invalidity goes to Tribunal they will normally ask the Valuation Officer to confirm that he has checked the band. But they won't look at any evidence relating to the banding and have no power to get involved in these circumstances.

Hope this makes sense

Mark-W_2

WEll my appeal has been declined and they have stated that my house would have been worth £68k in 1991, despite my parents buying their house in april 1991 for £60k.
Their house has an extra bedroom, a garden 3 times the size and is in a better location.

Will have to push it further and get some more supporting info.

cooperjul

Thanks for you advice it does make sense, unfortunately it looks like they will probably just say no it's out of time, it's just annoying when the house across the road from you is a bigger house and worth more money and is in a lower band (it just doesn't make sense). Do they not have an obligation to give you a reason for the difference in banding? I thought it was supposed to be on the valuation of the property, the houses were only built 2 yrs ago and when they were banded were still for sale, i think there has been a mistake made and nobody's accepting the blame.

Thanks for the advice given

Dibdob

Can anyone advise me please? We have been in our house 3 years and just found out that our neighbours are in a band D, but we are an E. We are in a cul-de-sac and there are only 15 houses in it. We are semi detached (link garage) and 3 bed, yet the other houses are 4 bed detached and they are also band D. We do have a small extension on our house, which has created a utility room, but I cannot see how that small room has pushed us up a band when the 4 bed houses are much bigger than ours? Anyone know what the rules are with extensions? It was obviously here before we moved in, yet when I do the look up in 1991 for our house, neighbours and the larger 4 bed properties they do not fall into the E banding? Dunno if I am being 'thick' with the 1991 tool, so would appreciate any help from you council tax claim back gurus!! Many thanks!