Seperate council tax band for annexe that's not an annex?

Nintey

I wonder if I could get some help and advice, we have just purchased a property which was classed as a 3 bed end terraced house on the estate agents particulars, this morning I have had my first council tax statement through this morning and they are classing the property as two separate dwellings, a house and an annexe!

The previous owners told us that they paid one lot of council tax on the property (which I double checked on the council website when buying). The property is on three levels - ground floor was classed on the estate agents particulars as a entrance hall, utility room, bedroom and en-suite. The first floor has a lounge, kitchen and toilet, and the second floor has two bedrooms and a bathroom.

There is no mention on the estate agents details of an annexe or potential annexe so I am not 100% sure why this property has now been divided up in to two bands now we have purchased it, at an extortionate cost of £999 for the "annexe" and £1300 for the house! I have phoned the VOA (Valuation Office Agency) as advised by the council and they said they will send me a form to fill in, but I have to pay both council taxes in the mean time.

I really feel like we have been duped here, there was no mention of this from anyone (our solicitors, the vendors, the estate agents) and we certainly won't be using what ever they are classing as an annexe, as an annexe! I wonder if anyone else has had this problem?

Jamie_Carter

It sounds like a mistake by the council.

DaftyDuck

Can you ask your solicitor to ask the vendor for an old bill? That might be the easiest route to sorting this? My solicitor has always requested one as routine, so he may have a copy on file. It sounds like a case of mistaken identity, rather than anything requiring the VOA - but it may be difficult to convince the council of that!

Nintey

Thanks for the replies, on the council statement I had come through, it says the property was originally banded as B but has now been split in to A for the annexe and C for the house. The lady on the phone at the council seems to think someone has been round to the property and re banded it, but we do not move in until next week (it has been empty a few months) so I don't think that is the case. I am wondering if they have seen the estate agents floor plans etc online from when we purchased it, and are now classing the ground floor as an annexe, and the first and second floor as the house part?

agrinnall

Is it possible to get to the upper floors without going through the entrance for the upper floors? If you can then you can see why they might have banded the two parts of the house separately. But if you can't then I'd say you have a very good case for it remaining as a single property.

elmer

Its the VOA who determine the banding and how it is billed not the Council. The Council bill according to the instruction from the VOA.

Fill in the form for the VOA, but be aware that as the council are correctly billing you, you will need to pay the current bills.

If the VOA amend the entry for the property, you will receive a new bill and if there is a reduction, a refund will be issued.

elmer

DaftyDuck

elmer wrote: »

Its the VOA who determine the banding and how it is billed not the Council. The Council bill according to the instruction from the VOA.

Fill in the form for the VOA, but be aware that as the council are correctly billing you, you will need to pay the current bills.

If the VOA amend the entry for the property, you will receive a new bill and if there is a reduction, a refund will be issued.

elmer

Unless the property reference on the old bill is a reference to the correct property, and the Council are merely sending the bill out incorrectly.

elmer

In my council it is impossible to bill incorrectly due to the banding as the property ref is supplied by the Assessor and also checked by the Assessor regularly.

The Assessor is the Voa in Scotland, and we do bill incorrectly due to other factors, but not for the current banding.

elmer

DaftyDuck

elmer wrote: »

In my council it is impossible to bill incorrectly due to the banding as the property ref is supplied by the Assessor and also checked by the Assessor regularly.

The Assessor is the Voa in Scotland, and we do bill incorrectly due to other factors, but not for the current banding.

elmer

That's my point really, just badly expressed I guess. If the wrong property ref has been applied to the new owner, it's a simple (hah) Council slip-up when ownership changed, not a VOA rating change. Just a possibility that could possibly be checked quickly and relatively easily.

onlyroz

I thought that an "annexe" had to be entirely self-contained, i.e. its own entrance, kitchen and bathroom. Your property doesn't sound like it meets this criteria so a mistake must have been made at some stage along the line.

lincroft1710

Annex does not have its own entrance, as long as it is not solely accessed from a room in the main house.

I'm wondering if the GF had been let out as a self contained bedsit and either the utility had a small cooker or the owners supplied a microwave.