Validation of Rateable Value

co123456

I've moved from owning a 3 bed semi to renting a 4 bed detached and found that my water bill has virtually doubled. Both properties are unmetered.

I understand that the costs are based on the rateable value, and that unless I opt for a meter (with the landlord's permission) I'm probably stuck with the extra cost.

Before I pay this years bill, I would like to ensure that the rateable value is accurate, and correctly applied by my water company.

If there an agency that I can contact who will tell me what my rateable value is? I want to keep the water company at arms length at this time.

Many thanks

macman

This may help:
http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/chargesbills/prs_inf_rvalues
The VOA only list rateable values for business properties, not domestic.
Because the data is historical, and in some cases, now 40 years old, no other agency will have the figures, and there's no way to challenge it, which anyway bears little relation to current day rental values.
Apply for a meter. Since it's free, and you can have it disregarded in the first 12m and go back to RV billing should it prove more expensive, it's really a no-brainer.

co123456

Thank you. I spotted that page and noted that I can 'ask (my) water company to check its record of your rateable value'.

I want to cross reference my water companys record, with the record held by the appropriate government agency. It's not clear to me who the appropriate agency is today. Ofwat.... Defunct County Council..... Current Countil (who collect Council Tax).... Valuation Office.... etc.

Gothicfairy

No one will have this information now.

Our local council does how some RV rates from 1975 but that is only because for some odd reason they just don't seem to get rid of paperwork..lol Most however no longer hold any details about the RV.

The water company can only tell you what they have on record and that I am afraid is the end of it..There is nothing else that can be done and the Distric valuer does NOT accept any questions regards the assessment.

Gothicfairy

oh and OFWAT do not hold any RV records at all.

co123456

Thanks. I'll probably get a meter. Surprised to learn there is no record keeping, or dispute process. The thought of a remote chance that I might have been overpaying my water bill for the past 10 or so years and not being able to reclaim it did pop into my mind.

Gothicfairy

I think it pops into everyones mind but because the RV was set so many years ago and only the water company use it there is no reason for anyone else to keep it.
The distric valuer could not really get into a dispute as how could they show what they set it at over 30 years ago and how the property and area looked then ?
This is the problem with RV charge..pot luck really.

Cardew

As stated above few councils will have retained their RV records as the last general assessment of Rateable values was done in 1973 and RV went out of use for everything except water charges in 1990.

HOWEVER

The RV was assessed on a number of factors that affected the notional rent a property could command. One of the most important was the amenities in the house, Central heating, showers kitchens bathrooms etc.

Bear in mind that by law if there had been any changes in the house, since 1973, the occupants should have notified the council prior to 1990 and had the property revalued. Post 1990 any substantial changes should have been notified to the water company and they would have insisted that a water meter was fitted.

Now of course almost nobody bothered, and it was rarely enforced. I suggest that the majority of houses would have had improvements since 1973 so instead of the RV being too high, in most cases it would be too low and/or a meter should have been fitted.


There are many thousands of properties with a ridiculously low RV because they have been improved and the authorities not notified.

bluewire

What was your old yearly charge? and your new one?

lincroft1710

Cardew wrote: »

Bear in mind that by law if there had been any changes in the house, since 1973, the occupants should have notified the council prior to 1990 and had the property revalued. Post 1990 any substantial changes should have been notified to the water company and they would have insisted that a water meter was fitted.

There is/was no law which says occupiers need to notify the council of any changes to their properties in England and Wales (no idea if Scotland is different). However any proposed changes should accord with current planning and building regulation requirements.

I'm ex VOA and inspected many, many houses for council tax purposes and also during the old domestic rating days and found countless alterations not notified to councils. In 35 years I and none of my colleagues in many offices across the country have come across such a law.

I'm not aware that water companies need to be notified of alterations either. A few years ago we had an extension built and no-one told us we had to notify the water authority, our architect certainly didn't.

lincroft1710

cheeryoleary wrote: »

Thank you. I spotted that page and noted that I can 'ask (my) water company to check its record of your rateable value'.

I want to cross reference my water companys record, with the record held by the appropriate government agency. It's not clear to me who the appropriate agency is today. Ofwat.... Defunct County Council..... Current Countil (who collect Council Tax).... Valuation Office.... etc.

Some VOAs did keep the old 1973 Valuation Lists, but my former colleagues have told me that a lot of old records were being disposed of, so even these may have now gone. There used to be a charge for supplying a 1973 VL Rateable Value. The only other authority who may still have a copy would be the council to whom you pay your council tax, but as many of these have been amalgamated during the past few years, the VLs may have been "lost".

Council had "top copy" of the VL, VOA and water authority had copies, so they were all the same. The only ways the water authority would have charged on the wrong RV, would be if they copied wrongly on to the bill, or if the RV had been changed, had not updated their records and were still using info from an old page of VL.