Council tax valuation tribunal

siano

I am wondering if there is any recourse to challenge the decision made by a valuation tribunal?

We have had our appeal rejected today (request to lower from Band B to A), but the list of reasons seem pretty flimsy to me and seems to centre around the fact our house is a new build.

It was purchased for £76k in March 2012, so using the calculator well below the 1991 £40k threshold. Two other similar houses on the same street were sold around the same time for <£80k, but since the asking price was orginally £115k, the VT say house prices were depressed at the time. This may be the case, but surely the value of a house is what someone is willing to pay, not the developer's asking price (which may be inflated on the basis they expect people to negotiate?).

The VT has stated that 1991 is over 20 years ago so the valuation may not be reliable, but I thought this was the main basis for current council tax banding? Are we being misled about the actual method of assessment?

We provided evidence that new builds on the same development as us had sold for between £99k and £126k in the last two years, but the VT said as these were 3m2 less in area than ours (we are 70m2, they are 67m2), they were justified to be in Band A.

It seems to me that the VT is picking and choosing the criteria it applies, firstly telling us that our £76k valuation is too low, but then saying a house that sold for £30k more is correctly in Band A because of a 3m square difference in area.

I understand that there needs to be a cut off between bands, but these houses are almost identical and the difference in area is negligible. Is there anything I can do about this? I can't believe that a 2-bedroomed mid-terrace with an single living/dining room downstairs, and tiny kitchen, is correctly banded as a Band B.

lincroft1710

siano wrote: »

I can't believe that a 2-bedroomed mid-terrace with an single living/dining room downstairs, and tiny kitchen, is correctly banded as a Band B.

Depending where you are in the country, there are loads of modern 1 bed cluster homes in Band B with 1991 sales evidence to prove this.

The VT will base its decision on all the evidence put before it and having attended many, many Trbunal hearings, what may appear to be a perverse decision does happen.

If you check the literature that came with details of the VT hearing, there should be something about if you disagree with the VT decision. This is in no way a formal appeal as there is no appeal against a VT decision to a higher authority or tribunal. I have never known a VT reverse its decision though.