Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

PhilTilson

Just something to bear in mind before you go rushing to change your banding.

My newly-moved-in neighbour did just this when he discovered he was Band E while the adjoining houses were Band D.

Result? I, and my next-door-but-one neighbour, got UPRATED to Band E at an additional cost of over £400 per annum.

So, if you value the friendship of your neighbours, tread cautiously.

Terry50

I received the following reply from my local council.
As you will read, they say my property is in the correct band D even though the asking price was £55000 and the sale price was £53000 which were well within Band C in 1995 when we purchased the property.

They say they would consider a revue if I could send further information.

However, they do not accept figures from house price indices or house price calculators! So, if official property price data was not available before 1993, what have they based their 1991 calculations on?

I therefore don't see how I can proceed any further, as I would not know how to obtain evidence of sale prices of properties in my area as far back as 1991 and that by the council not accepting figures from the only data available to me, it seems they have found a way out of considering re-banding!

Dear ...

Council Tax
Address: ...

Thank you for your email received on 10 August 2015. A council tax band is based on the amount that a property might have fetched if it had been sold on the open market on 1 April 1991. The above property is in band D, which means that we believe that value of the property would have been between £68,001 and £88,000 in 1991. This is the date of valuation applied to all properties for council tax purposes, even if the property hadn't been built at the time. This common date is used to ensure that every property is treated in the same way, giving a fair and consistent approach for everyone. Also for consistency, all properties are assumed to be sold with vacant possession and freehold (other than flats where a 99 year lease at a nominal rent is assumed).
For us to undertake a review, you will need to supply us with full and specific reasons why you believe the current band is wrong.
The evidence that I expect would include the following:
Information specific to the property, being direct and substantial evidence that an error may have been made when carrying out the original banding.
Sales evidence in the locality, very close to the 1st April 1991, which suggests that the property might be incorrectly banded. We do not accept figures from house price indices/calculators.
Evidence that identical or very similar properties in the locality are in a different band, inconsistent with the subject property. You will need to provide addresses.
On receipt of your full and specific reasons we will consider initiating a review. Once the review has been completed we will notify you of our decision in writing. I would normally expect this to be within eight weeks of you providing the additional details requested.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you wish to reply by email then please use the email address supplied at the bottom of this email.

Yours Sincerely

...
Council Tax Support
Council Tax West

lincroft1710

Terry50 wrote: »

I received the following reply from my local council.
As you will read, they say my property is in the correct band D even though the asking price was £55000 and the sale price was £53000 which were well within Band C in 1995 when we purchased the property.

They say they would consider a revue if I could send further information.

However, they do not accept figures from house price indices or house price calculators! So, if official property price data was not available before 1993, what have they based their 1991 calculations on?

I therefore don't see how I can proceed any further, as I would not know how to obtain evidence of sale prices of properties in my area as far back as 1991 and that by the council not accepting figures from the only data available to me, it seems they have found a way out of considering re-banding!

It should be the Valuation Office Agency (part of HMRC) who have written to you rather than the council.

The VOA have details of virtually every property sale since well before 1991. 1995 house prices tended to be about 25% lower than 1991.

flyforfun

Local Borough Council:London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Council Tax Band Before: G
Council Tax Band After: F
Amount refunded: £3,720
Annual saving going forward: £262.35

I bought my property as a new build in 1998. The price paid fell directly into the G band so I didn't question it until I came across this site some years ago and got an understanding of how council taxes work. I noticed on the VOA site that properties in my estate that were larger, some twice the size, were on a cheaper band. I rang for a review, they took my name and property details, but nothing else. A few weeks later I got standard reply saying your property is correct, there's no appeal process.

I checked VOA again this year and found that an identical flat in my building now had been revalued down to the lower band. This time I wrote in, listing every property in my development, the purchase price paid, the square footage and the current council tax banding, as well as mentioning that an identical flat had it's band reduced. Again, it was rejected!! They gave some waffle about all flats are different and they may have had an extension done or reduction in size made to their property. If they had made an extension, it would have been in the air!!

I complained, asking specifically why they had ignored the fact that my flat is identical to the one on a lower band. They requested proof that it was identical. I supplied them with the original sales brochures, floor plans and photographs showing this. Finally they agreed!!

The moral of this story is don't take no for an answer and keep persisting if you believe you are right.

grandma247

Pendle Borough Council
Council tax band before B
Council tax after A
Amount refunded £1825.67
I don't know what the Annual saving will be but it will be in the region of £200 ish.

I am so happy because the money will finish our mortgage,

frisb

Local Borough Council: Leicester City Council
Council Tax Band Before: F
Council Tax Band After: E
Amount refunded: c£2800
Annual saving going forward: c£350

We moved into our 5 bed semi detached property 10 years ago and at that point the council tax band of the house was changed from E to F due to Home Improvements the previous owners had made. I did not think that was right as when we had been looking at houses we'd been round another much bigger 6 bed semi detached on the same street and it was in the lower band E. My original challenge within 6 months of moving in was simply based on these facts, however, it was rejected as they told me that the other semi-detached house had been valued wrong in 1990 as they had not taken into account the third floor. VOA told me that they would be rebanding the other house and the attached semi to Band F. At that point I left it until recently when we were looking at putting our house on the market. I rechecked the VOA site and saw that the other semi's remained band E, despite the fact they had both sold twice with the 10 years. I rang the VOA and they explained that the original ruling had actually classed our F banding and the other houses E banding as correct. I expressed my anger at that, and to my surprise the lady at the VOA said that she would look at it. I didn't think you could challenge after 6 months from moving but she took my case on, asked for any supporting evidence i might have. I then trawled rightmove and the VOA site for any similar 5 bed semis in my area that were band E and managed to find 7 or 8. 1 house in particular had sold at similar times as our house but for more 20 to 30% more money. For this particular house I was able to find a floor plan from rightmove that had the estimated sq footage and compared it to the similar floor plan for our property that showed the other house was 18% bigger. Finally, i used the Nationwide price index and keyed in the purchase price of our property when we bough it in 2005 and this estimated that it would have been in Band E back in 1991. It took some effort to put the evidence together but after 6 weeks, theyve rebanded our house to E and the rebate will be c£2800.

[Deleted User]

I have lived in my home for many years and I just wanted to give a brief outline of my experience in dealing with the VOA. I sent in a request for our banding to be looked at and, after waiting for nigh on the full 8 weeks allowed for them to contact me back, received a very basic response. It said 'No', not much else, but I didn't get the impression that much attention was paid to anything I had submitted at all. I wrote back expressing my concerns and did eventually get a more detailed response from someone more senior, but I still didn't think that I had been treated fairly. I fully acknowledge that my case was very borderline though.

My feelings are that if you have lived in a property for more than 6 months, with your banding considered borderline, then you will always be fobbed off with a 'No'. They know you can't take it any further, you are barred from making a formal challenge, and I think it is very wrong. In my opinion the 6 months rule, I presume it is statutory, is a total joke. Who on earth dreamt it up and with what logic? Why are people, who didn't soon realise that there might be a problem with their banding, being discriminated against? It makes no sense at all. Does anyone know off hand if the 6 months rule is statutory by the way? I would like to find out.

I am in no way very confident that my banding would have been changed, if I had been allowed to proceed further, but I think everyone should have the right to get a valuation from a chartered surveyor. If people want to take a chance paying for it, then it's obvious they think they have a decent case. It's not cheap and the VOA aren't going to be overrun by chancers making frivolous claims. The valuation should then be linked to a housing price index and used as the prime component in making a decision, though there may of course be other factors to consider in certain cases. The chartered surveyor could also be used to make such determinations, if necessary.

So, you get the final valuation through, of what your property was worth in 1991, and you win or you lose. In a few cases it will no doubt be only a few quid either side, but at least there is some consistency and fairness this way. I would much rather see 50% of borderline cases being rebanded, rather than 0%, which is how I currently see it. Well done to all of those who succeeded in getting their banding changed. If it was wrong, then rightfully so! :T

PhilTilson wrote: »

My newly-moved-in neighbour did just this when he discovered he was Band E while the adjoining houses were Band D. Result? I, and my next-door-but-one neighbour, got UPRATED to Band E at an additional cost of over £400 per annum.

One might ponder why the VOA wasn't also subject to the 6 months rule, if they wanted to challenge your banding. Perhaps they made out it was a clear cut case? Perhaps when it is them doing the questioning it is always a clear cut case? No double standards I am sure...

lincroft1710

The 6 month rule is laid down in statute. I understand that the idea was to prevent people making several pointless appeals on their homes.

2Sheds

PhilTilson wrote: »

Just something to bear in mind before you go rushing to change your banding.

My newly-moved-in neighbour did just this when he discovered he was Band E while the adjoining houses were Band D.

Result? I, and my next-door-but-one neighbour, got UPRATED to Band E at an additional cost of over £400 per annum.

So, if you value the friendship of your neighbours, tread cautiously.

What did your letter say when this was done !

Pokermid

Local Borough Council: Chelmsford
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: D
Amount refunded: £5369
Annual saving going forward: £341

I saw Martins video and thought its worth a try. I did a little research and then called the V.O.A. and made my case. I sent no evidence but explained that the majority of my neighbours with exactly the same house design were in the band below mine. They said they would look into it and get back to me. That was over a month ago and I'd put it out of my mind. Well, last Thursday I received a letter from the V.O.A. confirming my re-banding from E to D. They also said that they'd informed my local Council of the change. I sent an email to my Council the following day requesting details of payments and they replied that notifications had been sent. That seemed a bit vague so I emailed them again on Monday and I got a reply within an hour telling me that £5369.21 had been paid into our account!
I was flabbergasted but over the Moon too!

If you think you're in the right............go for it!!

Thanks Martin and MSE