Can I appeal my Council Tax Band if Everyone is Paying the in the Same Tax Band ?

Leodogger

We are buying a bungalow from someone but the buildings originallly were sold by a housing association. The whole development of 20 bungalows is rated in Band C even though we only paid £93,000 for it and one is up for sale at £68,000 !

Originally I think maybe they were rated along with the houses in the street which are 3 bed semis but all the bungalows are paying council tax in Band C.

Can we appeal this rate as we are in a 3 bed semi just down the road and are only in Band B? They are quite small bungalows (2 bed, one living room, kitchen and bathroom, communal gardens) so is not large. Is there are chance we can appeal the band they have been put in 18 yrs ago ?

fwor

I can't see how you have anything to lose by trying.

I appealed against the band for my house - which it had had since the original valuation, and got it rebanded plus a refund for the years since I bought.

Having said that, they are bound to be reluctant to do it for you, as they would then set a precedent for 19 other owners! You probably have a better chance of success by finding a similar type of property nearby in Band B than comparing it with a different type of house.

Leodogger

fwor wrote: »

I can't see how you have anything to lose by trying.

I appealed against the band for my house - which it had had since the original valuation, and got it rebanded plus a refund for the years since I bought.

Having said that, they are bound to be reluctant to do it for you, as they would then set a precedent for 19 other owners! You probably have a better chance of success by finding a similar type of property nearby in Band B than comparing it with a different type of house.

I know what you mean but how do I find out what another bungalow in the surrounding nearby area is paying ?

CIS

Check here - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017252 - Council Tax bands are a matter of public record.

Leodogger

If I challenge the council tax banding we are in, do they then put you in the band that applies to your house valued as at today's date or calculate it back to when it was valued in 1991 ?

fwor

JWhite wrote: »

If I challenge the council tax banding we are in, do they then put you in the band that applies to your house valued as at today's date or calculate it back to when it was valued in 1991 ?

I'm not sure if it's the same now as when mine got rebanded (two or three years ago), but I was refunded everything I had overpaid since purchase of the property. Out of curiosity, I asked about whether the previous owners were entitled to reclaim their overpayments, and was told that they were not.

I sought out the other property owners in my area with the same type of property as mine and in the higher band. One of them had owned for a long time, and got several thousand pounds back.

lincroft1710

If you are in Eng or Scot, CT bands are still based on Apr 1991 values. Wait until you have moved in (or completed if not moving in straightaway) before you appeal.

Leodogger

lincroft1710 wrote: »

If you are in Eng or Scot, CT bands are still based on Apr 1991 values. Wait until you have moved in (or completed if not moving in straightaway) before you appeal.

Thanks for the advice, I have enquired from the Housing Association who built them what price they were sold at in 1993 (year of build) as I can then find out what they should have been banded at. I did ask the estate agent to find out from the son of the lady who owned it from new but the price he gave me was £16,000 higher than one sold for 3 years later, so unless there was a housing bust 3 yrs later, it is unlikely that was correct, especially as we sold a house only half a mile away in a desirable area for £65,000 3 yrs after they were built and it was a big Freehold 3 bed semi and this one we are buying is a Leasehold terraced 2 bed bungalow with communal garden for the over 60's. :eek:

Something is not quite right somewhere unless these bungalows went down in price drastically from £60,000 in 1993 to £34,500 in 3 yrs in 1996

John_Pierpoint

House prices were falling in the 1990's following the removal of tax relief from both unmarried co-habitees. Leaving no tax subsidies (other than Principal Private Residence for Capital Gains Tax) on homes. It took until 1997 for it to become evident (outside London) that prices were on their way up again. Almost a "Lost Decade".

Leodogger

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

House prices were falling in the 1990's following the removal of tax relief from both unmarried co-habitees. Leaving no tax subsidies (other than Principal Private Residence for Capital Gains Tax) on homes. It took until 1997 for it to become evident (outside London) that prices were on their way up again. Almost a "Lost Decade".

How come then according to all the house price statistics I have researched which track house prices on the Land Registry and Halifax etc. through 3 decades all state that during those 3 years from 1993 to 1996 house prices rose by about 3%?

John_Pierpoint

I am afraid a 3% change is just statistical "noise".

If you are going to argue house prices you could find your self up against what was called the District Valuer in those days [Now the Valuations Office Agency].
In those days house prices at the Land Registry were not individually published, only the District Valuer knew.
You need figures by post code if you are going to prove values in your particular post code.
I sold a house in 1996 inside the M25 on the SW side of London - house prices were just beginning to boom. It was a probate case so I kept it empty for a year and then tried to claim that during that year it went up from 250K to 297K. (so that 8 beneficiaries could claim their share of the 47K against their individual CGT allowances rather than I paid 40% IHT on the whole lot).

We had a right set to, with the District Valuer having real comparables, and me only having averages of at least 3 house sales by post codes round the local district. [The Land Registry would not publish the statistics if less than three for fear that a bit of detective work would reveal actual prices paid for individual properties]

In the end I agreed that my figure of 47K was 12.5K too high - though to this day I feel a bit cheated..

I wish you luck but I don't think that a generalised statement about the rate of house price increase will get you very far.

Where in the country is the property?