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

lincroft1710

In the area I live, house prices rose until 1988/89 then went into decline until early 1996 when they stated to rise again. Fall from 1991 to 1993 was about 20 - 25%. I spent a lot of my working life from 1990s to mid 2000s studying actual sold prices of individual properties.

Leodogger

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

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?

It is in Great Barr, near Birmingham in the West Midlands. Surely it will be an easy argument with the official price paid by the Housing Association to the developer who built them in the first place? How can anyone argue with the actual price paid? Then it is an easy calculation to work out what council tax band they should have been put in.

John_Pierpoint

In the face of it you certainly appear to have a case.
In the late 1990's a relative of mine was house hunting in the4 Nottingham area - there was a lot of housing in the area for less than 52K, including an estate of two bed bungalows..
The relative bought a three bed three floor terrace for 50K and sold it 5 years later for 125K.

I cannot see that being leasehold with an age restriction has actually enhanced the values of a property?

I don't suppose you are in touch with the ground landlord and he has any history of appealing the valuations for Council Tax purposes?

Still think you need to find a comparable in the area at the time though.

Leodogger

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

In the face of it you certainly appear to have a case.
In the late 1990's a relative of mine was house hunting in the4 Nottingham area - there was a lot of housing in the area for less than 52K, including an estate of two bed bungalows..
The relative bought a three bed three floor terrace for 50K and sold it 5 years later for 125K.

I cannot see that being leasehold with an age restriction has actually enhanced the values of a property?

I don't suppose you are in touch with the ground landlord and he has any history of appealing the valuations for Council Tax purposes?

Still think you need to find a comparable in the area at the time though.

I am waiting to hear back from the Housing Association who actually run the matenance and communal services. They should know what they were sold for which is all important because it is at that point that they would have had their banding. If prices were falling during that period i.e. 1993, I can't see that a small two bed terraced bungalow could possibly have been built and sold for £60,000 but I might be wrong.

We shall see !

thenudeone

You have nothing to lose but will have to find evidence of what similar properties in similar areas were selling for in 1991. Your local library may have copies of local papers from that period either electronically or on microfiche. Print off any estate agents adverts that are useful. If you want to find the actual selling price for a specific house that sold around that time you can buy the documents from the land registry website for about £4.

Leodogger

Cheers ! I never thought of the Land Registry, worth a try.

lincroft1710

The problem you may run into is that most bungalow sales in 1991 are going to be of privately built properties.

If the HA bought them en bloc from the developer in 1993, then the average price HA paid for a bungalow would probably be lower than the market price for a single bungalow and you would have to also calculate back to 1991 figure. To be in Band C, a property would be expected to sell for in excess of £52K at 1 Apr 91.

Another point, do these bungalows have an age restriction occupancy clause, which would obviously narrow the potential buying market.

Leodogger

lincroft1710 wrote: »

The problem you may run into is that most bungalow sales in 1991 are going to be of privately built properties.

If the HA bought them en bloc from the developer in 1993, then the average price HA paid for a bungalow would probably be lower than the market price for a single bungalow and you would have to also calculate back to 1991 figure. To be in Band C, a property would be expected to sell for in excess of £52K at 1 Apr 91.

Another point, do these bungalows have an age restriction occupancy clause, which would obviously narrow the potential buying market.

When I said I was trying to find out the price I meant the price they were marketed at to the public in 1993, obviously the Housing Association would have paid less.

Where do you get the figure of "in excess of £52K at 1 Apr 91" from ?

Yes they do have an age restriction but I don't see how that would restrict the buying market as these type of properties are always sought after with the ageing population increasing.

Dynamic_Panda

We appealed when the bandings first came in at our old property and the office advised that the valuation was taken as at 01 February 1991................this was so the properties were allegedly put in the correct banding when the councils were calculating their charges for that year.............we were put in band B when it should have been band A as the property was worth less than £40K...............we won and got a rebate of the additional amount we had paid...........

DP

lincroft1710

I'm ex VOA and dealt with CT appeals for the last 12 years of my working life.

Band C covers properties valued in excess of £52K but no more than £68K as at 1 April 1991. So if the bungalow would have sold for £52,000 at that date - Band B, but (for example) £52,500 and it's a Band C.

If the buying market is restricted, this will usually depress the price.

I've dealt with many HAs and HA properties. Usually, unless it's a "private" HA properties are built for rent. Were these bungalows available only to local people and were they part buy/part rent at any time.