Council tax questions - done some research, borderline case?

steveeeee

Prompted by all the talk on here and in the news recently about council tax, I thought I'd have a look at our situation. The VOA website has us down as band D, which is what we're paying for - though they have the wrong post code for our street ).

We bought our house for £185k in mid-May 2004 (right in the middle of Q2), and according to http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/ this would've been worth £69057 in Q2 1991. If I use some artistic license and push our purchase into Q3 of 2004, then the HPI link puts our Q2 1991 price at £68243. The average of the two Q2 1991 prices is £67928 which is just in band C. Given that it's a fairly close call, is it worth having a go at rebanding? We're a long way off band E, so I don't think there's any risk there.

I'm not sure if it's relevant but a previous occupant had the attached garage converted into a hair salon and ran it as a business. It still has the laminate floor and plumbing! I have no idea if they reported this to the council, or if they did, whether they told the council when they moved out that it was no longer being used for business purposes. I notice that the VOA website mentions this as one of the possible reasons for a rebanding request:

6. If your property becomes, or ceases to be, a "composite" property. A composite property is one which contains both domestic and non-domestic property, such as a shop or public house with living accommodation. - http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/can_i_appeal.htm

Is it worth mentioning this to the council/VOA just in case, or should I let it lie?

TIA for any advice!

steveeeee

50 views and nobody has any thoughts on this?

marie_hc

Hi steveeee

Have a look at your caouncil tax forms you had last April of your caouncil, and phone your council to see what they have you listed for.

Worth a try.