Council Tax

Lewigreg081281

Thanks, If they where to remove just the single hob and the water supply to the small sink next to the hob could they keep the bathroom as a ensuite to the bed in there?

Basically its a square shaped room. There is a bed to the left in front of that there is a small shower room with toilet (closed off) and then the single hob to the right of the room it's only a small space really.

What about if it's down as a second home that my dad lives in the main dwelling and my mum lives in the second dwelling would the 25% discount apply to each of them? It says if a adult is living in a property alone then they are entitled to a 25% discount?

pleasedelete

Do they mean rebranding as a discreet dwelling or just reviewing the band as the property has been extended? Your 1st post is not specific.

It is not unusual that if a house has had an extension which has added value they do not adjust the band at the time but do it when the house is next sold.

We have had this twice. We bought houses and doubled them in size but they were not rebanded. When we sold them they were both reassessed. The buyers were advised by their solicitors that this was likely to happen.

Itismehonest

If there's absolutely no way of cooking (no cooker, no cooker point) & only an en-suite type bedroom left then your parents would stand a much better chance, IMO. I wouldn't want to gainsay the powers-that-be by saying it was a dead cert, though.

Edit - Sorry, forgot to add that, yes, getting rid of the little sink would be good
If one of your parents were to live in each then, by nature, the second home would become a primary residence.
Easier & cheaper to try for the annexe to go, I'd say, even if it increases the band overall.

Lewigreg081281

I'm not sure what's happening with regards to the rebanding/reviewing theres just a guy from the valuations dept coming mon.

Are they ok asking look what do we need to do to avoid this eg. take the hob out etc etc?

pleasedelete that will be why it's come up then due to the sale I bet. The annoying thing is that the solicitor 100% did not mention this. How do we stand from this point of view?

CIS

What about if it's down as a second home that my dad lives in the main dwelling and my mum lives in the second dwelling would the 25% discount apply to each of them? It says if a adult is living in a property alone then they are entitled to a 25% discount?

In theory yes but you'd have to demonstrate that the move to the property was permanent (and actually happened) and there was no intention to return to the other property - the council would likely fight the application.

Beetlemama

If they band the annex as a separate property, you should probably have the main house reassessed too, if it was banded as one big prop with three bedrooms it will potentially go down if the annex receives it's own banding - be aware though that if for any reason the property is judged to be a higher band, that band will stand instead. It may be that the prop was banded as a two bed and the annex wasn't declared though, then the C would be correct.

If it's any consolation, they may go after the previous owners if they had an annex added and did not inform the VO of the change. I've seen them backdate changes for years and dump huge bills on former owners years after they moved.

xylophone

I should think that removing the external door and the "kitchenette" would be the thing to do.

Then your parents would have a three bedroom bungalow?

Of course this might in itself cause the property to be rebanded.

somethingcorporate

Have you spoken to the solicitors about it?

Lewigreg081281

Cheers again,

I think they are going to see what the assessor says on Monday. Yes they have spoken with their solicitors and they couldn't believe it and sounded shocked that it was being assessed. This is obviously worrying if it's the nor for this to happen.

They've basically advised my parents to see what the assessor says and then take it from there and mentioned appealing against it.

I think my parents just want to keep the solicitors sweet for now, bit if it does end up costing them a lot extra for the 'annex' then solicitors have obviously not done their job properly. They should have advised this may happen as obviously it may have been a reason for my parents not to buy the property to begin with.

How would we stand then? say the solicitors just try fobbing them off?

martinsurrey

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