Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

lincroft1710

Harribo66 said:

Is there anything I can do at this point in time? Would I be able to request a change in banding again?

You can make another request for a band change, but without new evidence, the answer you will most probably receive will be "the band has already been fully investigated and found to be correct".

Johnr1829

I recently followed your instructions to reband my neighbours council tax from B to A and we were successful getting 28 years of rebate, a total of £2444.22, which my neighbour is over joyed with. Thank you for your help and guidance.

Sarah969

Local Borough Council: Cheshire West and Chester
Council Tax Band Before: G
Council Tax Band After: F
Amount refunded: £4680 (30 years!)
Annual saving going forward: £400

Sarah969

Sarah969 said:

Local Borough Council: Cheshire West and Chester
Council Tax Band Before: G
Council Tax Band After: F
Amount refunded: £4680 (30 years!)
Annual saving going forward: £400

To add context: This is my parents home, they are semi detached and the neighbour has always been band F, having bought the house approx 6 months before my parents. The houses are not identical and the neighbours have a bigger garden. My mum called the council a few years ago and was told their band wouldn't lower but the neighbours might go up so she didn't risk it.
I looked in to this (thanks Martin and team) and they passed the neighbour check but not the value check. Not many houses are semi in that area so we weren't convinced we would be successful as we didn't have many comparisons and many of the houses were sold prior to HM Land Registry House Price Data being recorded.

HS22

Borough: Bucks (was South Bucks)
Band: rebanded from E to D
April 2021, backdated to 1993
Refund: £4k to me (10 years), plus refunds to two previous owners back to 1993.
Success!
I saw MSE's suggestion to check council tax bands and the link showed that mine was band E, but my three neighbours (terraced!) were band D. I put the last two sale prices of my house, and a recent valuation of it into MSE's tool, and all three figures indicated that the 1993 value should indeed have been band D so I contacted VOA. They challenged that I didn't know the actual 1993 value, only an indication, and they asked for proof that the neighbouring band D properties were of similar age and type. I sent a streetview screengrab that we are a terrace(!) and that although I am the end-terrace, we are each small 2-bed, 1-toilet houses.    
I got £4k back, for 2009-2021, I informed the previous owners the can claim their refund for 1998-2009, and I am tracing the previous owner who paid 1993-98 as he is owed £440. Thank you MSE!

Sarah969

Sarah969 said:

Sarah969 said:

Local Borough Council: Cheshire West and Chester
Council Tax Band Before: G
Council Tax Band After: F
Amount refunded: £4680 (30 years!)
Annual saving going forward: £400

To add context: This is my parents home, they are semi detached and the neighbour has always been band F, having bought the house approx 6 months before my parents. The houses are not identical and the neighbours have a bigger garden. My mum called the council a few years ago and was told their band wouldn't lower but the neighbours might go up so she didn't risk it.
I looked in to this (thanks Martin and team) and they passed the neighbour check but not the value check. Not many houses are semi in that area so we weren't convinced we would be successful as we didn't have many comparisons and many of the houses were sold prior to HM Land Registry House Price Data being recorded.

Turns out the council got it wrong, the refund is £7552 total.

JJJHHH321

Thank you Martin, it worked for me!
Local Borough Council: Harborough District Council
Council Tax Band Before:Band D
Council Tax Band After:Band C
Amount refunded:£3,747.87

 

I wanted to thank Money Saving Expert for the article and information about reducing the Council Tax Band and reclaiming the overpayment of Council Tax.  My Mum’s Council Tax has been reduced from Band D to Band C, and she has received a refund of £3747.87 dating back to 1997.

Since Council Tax was introduced, my Mum has been complaining to the rest of the family that her bungalow was the only one in her street placed at Band D.  She contacted the local Council years ago and was told that there was nothing they could do.

Last year, Mum read the Money Saving Expert article and asked me to pursue it for her.  I had a look at the sites and gathered the information I thought I would need to write a comprehensive letter to the Valuation Office Agency.

I gave them a call to see if there was any further information they could suggest I include.  I spoke to someone very helpful who asked me questions about the address, how long my Mum had lived there, the Bands of neighbouring properties etc.  He said that he could process the information and that there was no need to write a letter.  He asked me to forward a form signed by my Mum giving me permission to act on her behalf, which I was able to do within the week.

There was a very quick acknowledgement that the request was being considered.  In a couple of months we received the information that the Band had been reduced, and that my Mum was eligible for a refund dating back to 1997.  I was particularly impressed with the speed that this happened as it was during Lockdown and many people were working from home.

The refund payments arrived shortly after.  One very happy Mum.  Thank you Money Saving Expert.

mickeyb_3

Thank you so much to the MSE team.  Finally got round to sorting this out and today I had confirmation that my band was going to be adjusted.
Local Borough Council: Sefton
Council Tax Band before: Band C
New Council Tax Band: Band B
Amount refunded £3,060
I am beyond happy.  I've told my neighbour to do the same as there are only 4 houses on my street with the wrong council tax band. 

doraspenlow

How geographically close do comparable houses need to be?
I live in a new-ish small estate in a village. There are no other houses in the estate that are the same as ours (4 bed terraced). We're in band E. All the other houses in band E are detached 4 beds, which are more valuable than ours. However, there aren't any other 4 bed terraced houses in the estate to directly compare.
The developer who built our estate has been adding further estates in the village and I have managed to find a few other 4 bed terraced houses among them. They are in band D. They appear to be similar floor size to our house, although they are three storey houses whereas ours is two storey.
These properties are less than a mile away as the crow flies. Basically one side of the village to the other. Would I be able to use them as evidence?

lincroft1710

doraspenlow said:

How geographically close do comparable houses need to be?
I live in a new-ish small estate in a village. There are no other houses in the estate that are the same as ours (4 bed terraced). We're in band E. All the other houses in band E are detached 4 beds, which are more valuable than ours. However, there aren't any other 4 bed terraced houses in the estate to directly compare.
The developer who built our estate has been adding further estates in the village and I have managed to find a few other 4 bed terraced houses among them. They are in band D. They appear to be similar floor size to our house, although they are three storey houses whereas ours is two storey.
These properties are less than a mile away as the crow flies. Basically one side of the village to the other. Would I be able to use them as evidence?

If you are in a terrace, are the other houses in the terrace smaller? Remember that because of the width of Band E, it is possible that the 1991 value of your home could be £90K whereas the the detached could be one third more - £120K.

There is nothing to stop you using houses on the other side of the village. The VOA may counter with your side of the village is more desirable and thus prices are higher, plus usually a 3 storey house would be cheaper than one of a similar size but only on 2 floors.