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

starr_2

Hi,
Can anyone advise me? We moved into our home in 1995 (3 bed end of terrace) and paid £67,000 back then as it was in need of extensive modernisation. I have lived here for nearly 12 years and currently pay Council Tax for a Band D. I did follow the steps in the article and looked up both my neighbours houses. One which is identical to our house is band D (as is most of the road) but the other neighbour house which has been extended to a five bedroom property is also band D? Quite a few houses have added extensions or loft conversions and they are all Band D. As I live in a cul de sac it was easy to identify which houses were substantially larger. Do you think I have a case to put forward? Any responses will be gratefully appreciated as I am confused!

starr_2

Hi,
Can anyone advise me? We moved into our home in 1995 (3 bed end of terrace) and paid £67,000 back then as it was in need of extensive modernisation. I have lived here for nearly 13 years and currently pay Council Tax for a Band D. I did follow the steps in the article and looked up both my neighbours houses. One which is identical to our house is band D (as is most of the road) but the other neighbour house which has been extended to a five bedroom property is also band D? Quite a few houses have added extensions or loft conversions and they are all Band D. As I live in a cul de sac it was easy to identify which houses were substantially larger. Do you think I have a case to put forward? Any responses will be gratefully appreciated as I am confused!

Maisie

starr wrote: »

Hi,
Can anyone advise me? We moved into our home in 1995 (3 bed end of terrace) and paid £67,000 back then as it was in need of extensive modernisation. I have lived here for nearly 13 years and currently pay Council Tax for a Band D. I did follow the steps in the article and looked up both my neighbours houses. One which is identical to our house is band D (as is most of the road) but the other neighbour house which has been extended to a five bedroom property is also band D? Quite a few houses have added extensions or loft conversions and they are all Band D. As I live in a cul de sac it was easy to identify which houses were substantially larger. Do you think I have a case to put forward? Any responses will be gratefully appreciated as I am confused!

If the people who did the extensions are still living in the house the band MIGHT go up when the house is next sold. It doesn't go up after extending until the next sale.
Saying that the band might go up ONLY if the VOA know of the extension. Have a look at the neighbour's address on the voa site and see if there's an indicator (i) against their banding. That will tell you if the voa are considering changing the banding.
I know in this area when large extensions have been done and the house is sold the banding still hasn't changed.
Apparently the planning dept of the council should advise the voa of extensions. It seems sometimes there is a slip up in the system and the voa are not advised or don't take action.
I don't think you have much chance of getting your band lowered because of the extended ones. More likely the extended ones will get their band raised.

HTH . Maisie

Zebedeee

starr wrote: »

Hi,
Can anyone advise me? We moved into our home in 1995 (3 bed end of terrace) and paid £67,000 back then as it was in need of extensive modernisation. I have lived here for nearly 13 years and currently pay Council Tax for a Band D. I did follow the steps in the article and looked up both my neighbours houses. One which is identical to our house is band D (as is most of the road) but the other neighbour house which has been extended to a five bedroom property is also band D? Quite a few houses have added extensions or loft conversions and they are all Band D. As I live in a cul de sac it was easy to identify which houses were substantially larger. Do you think I have a case to put forward? Any responses will be gratefully appreciated as I am confused!

starr
It is quite possible to have houses costing more or less in the same band, it just depends where you fall in the band as to how fair it seems. Follow Masie's suggestion, and it would also be a good idea to see how much houses like yours were selling for in 1991. You can find this out by going to your local library and asking to see the archives of the property pages of your local newspaper from the first quarter of 1991. This kind of evidence is taken more seriously by the VOA than the property price calculator.

Hope that helps!

Zebedee

jamesiebabie

pingua wrote: »

We have just moved house (they were quick on the ball) and have had a very nice letter to tell us as our house had an extension a while back they would like to re-value it to review the banding. They are wanting approx external dimensions and the planning or building control reference.

So does it all go on the size of the property??? Or the value or it???

We did know this would happen but absolutely gutted.........

Oh just clicked the link above, it goes on the value it would have been in 1991 - how on earth can they say what it would have been?????
Although it has had the extension, it is still only in todays prices about 9 grand more than those without extensions (as it has left a tiny garden) so how does that get worked out??

Pingua,

It's a bummer when they do this, but it is the law. They have a tracking system and raise a case called a CR10. This logs a report of any possible change to the house. Once the sale has gone through, the computer goes 'ping' and away the inspectors go.

The VOA will probably ask for the area as they are likely to devalue the extension to a £/m2, so if your extension is worth £9000 and the area 10m2, this would equate to £900/m2. They are then likely to index this back and add it to the original value and see if this takes into a new band. More aften than not, most properties do not go up, but if your property was already borderline then it may well go up a band.

I wish you well and I hope it does not go up. By the way, you do not have to send them plans or any other details. Let them earn their money and give them a trip out. hopefully it will be a rainy day!!

jamesiebabie

Zebedeee wrote: »

starr
It is quite possible to have houses costing more or less in the same band, it just depends where you fall in the band as to how fair it seems. Follow Masie's suggestion, and it would also be a good idea to see how much houses like yours were selling for in 1991. You can find this out by going to your local library and asking to see the archives of the property pages of your local newspaper from the first quarter of 1991. This kind of evidence is taken more seriously by the VOA than the property price calculator.

Hope that helps!

Zebedee

Zebedees point is spot on, can I just add that you need to be aware of when the converstions were done. If they wer done after 1993, then all may be in the correct band or they could all be in the wrong band.

jamesiebabie

Just a little bit of info, where the indicators on the website state that the band will need to be reviewed on the back of a sale, this is known as a CR10 or logged report. These are either raised by the VOA staff where they notice any extension or alike being built or more normally now by the billing authorities send a report electronically to the VOA. in the past the BA's have been quite poor in certain localities in raising these reports.

J

Elliebabe

We have put in an appeal against our Council tax banding as it is quite obvious we are in the wrong band - we appealed in 1999 when we first moved in and never received a response.

To cut a long story short we didn't know enough to chase it at that time - now we have done it again but I local VOA doesn't seem to be replying to us. The phone just rings and we have now resulted to sending letters by recorded delivery - having waited 2 months now to hear from them - how can I push it further?

I have a disabled son and have struggled in the past to pay the council tax hence I am really miffed that I could of been over paying as I suspected 8 years ago.

MP? etc Who can I complain to?

thanks in advance

Zebedeee

Elliebabe wrote: »

We have put in an appeal against our Council tax banding as it is quite obvious we are in the wrong band - we appealed in 1999 when we first moved in and never received a response.

To cut a long story short we didn't know enough to chase it at that time - now we have done it again but I local VOA doesn't seem to be replying to us. The phone just rings and we have now resulted to sending letters by recorded delivery - having waited 2 months now to hear from them - how can I push it further?

I have a disabled son and have struggled in the past to pay the council tax hence I am really miffed that I could of been over paying as I suspected 8 years ago.

MP? etc Who can I complain to?

thanks in advance

Elliebabe,

I think that if you CC your MP in your correspondence to the VOA it seems to have the effect of concentrating the mind! They are obliged to maintain their lists fair and accurate and are regularly audited, so they need to show that they are doing their job properly. Hopefully, your MP will also contact them to show their interest in your situation.

HTH!

Zebedee

jamesiebabie

Elliebabe wrote: »

We have put in an appeal against our Council tax banding as it is quite obvious we are in the wrong band - we appealed in 1999 when we first moved in and never received a response.

To cut a long story short we didn't know enough to chase it at that time - now we have done it again but I local VOA doesn't seem to be replying to us. The phone just rings and we have now resulted to sending letters by recorded delivery - having waited 2 months now to hear from them - how can I push it further?

I have a disabled son and have struggled in the past to pay the council tax hence I am really miffed that I could of been over paying as I suspected 8 years ago.

MP? etc Who can I complain to?

thanks in advance

Elliebabe,

this sounds terrible treatment and very unlike the VOA. I would give the VOA one more chance, make sure you use the telephone number that appears on the website [use my link at the botttom if need be and click at the top left CT home] and go to the top right hand side where it says 'where to find us'. Click on your relevant location and you'll find the telephone number and a contact name for the customer service manager. you need to speak to them. If you then have no luck do as Zebedee says and contact your local MP, you'll soon get a response.

I hope that helps.

J