Council tax revaluation

siano

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has had success in getting the council tax band lowered on a new build house?

We are band B (2-bed terrace in Co. Durham), which our landlord bought brand new for c. £90k in spring this year. Using the calculation tool on this site places the 1991 value below the band A threshold of £40k. However, since it's a new development all the similar houses in the area are also band B, so we fail the 'neighbours check'. Our landlord challenged the banding but it was rejected and an appeal is scheduled for December. Having spoken to him recently though, he doesn't seem to think it will be successful as the value of other new terraces in the village is a fair bit higher than older (30+ years) terraces of the same size.

Is the local council allowed to manipulate the 1991 £40k threshold based on a large variation in value of houses of similar size? It seems to me that they have incorrectly banded a lot of houses, rather than ours being correct just because others are also band B. Or is there some complexity to the banding I'm not aware of?

Thanks!

CIS

Is the local council allowed to manipulate the 1991 £40k threshold based on a large variation in value of houses of similar size? It seems to me that they have incorrectly banded a lot of houses, rather than ours being correct just because others are also band B. Or is there some complexity to the banding I'm not aware of?

The council have no say in the banding of a property, its the preserve of the Valuation Office Agency (part of HMRC).

siano

Ah OK, thanks. I guess what I'm wondering though is whether the £40k 1991 value is a hard and fast threshold? Or if the VOA looks at other criteria too?

CIS

Ah OK, thanks. I guess what I'm wondering though is whether the £40k 1991 value is a hard and fast threshold? Or if the VOA looks at other criteria too?

Council Tax banding thresholds are set in law. The valuation office will look at the value of other similar properties in the area as they would have been back in 1991 and then determine a value for your property and place it within one of the bands.

siano

Thanks for the info, we'll just have to wait for the appeal result then. It will be frustrating if we're not re-banded though as a bit of research this afternoon has found 3-bed semis sold this year for >£120k in the area that are band A, and the majority of band B houses seem to be 3-bed semis (except on our new development). It's hard to see what justification the valuation office would give for keeping us in band B.