Council Tax Banding Appeal Question?

dprince

HI All

can anyone tell me if they have made an appeal and the valuation office has based there evidence on the following:

a.Location
b.Size of property..cubic space etc...
c.Layout of property
d.Character of property

I live in a 1 bedroom flat.Banding is a B.I have made an appeal that the banding should be an A.
The building is Edwardian house from 1910.Made into 3 flats now and been a band B since 1993 according to the local authorities.

Do I need to check on the flat prices simular to mine to check banding or what the property as a WHOLE house valued at in 1991..

I need evidence for my appeal..if anyone can help...Thanks

vivatifosi

Hi dprince,

Yes, I was at tribunal yesterday making an appeal on exactly these points I will hear in the next 21 days whether I was successful...

This reply is relevant if you are in England, as I think the Welsh system has had a revaluation and I don't know what the situation is for Scotland.

First, and most important, you mentioned that your flat was made a band B in 1993. Was this because the house was not converted to flats until 1993 or because the valuation was carried out (in common with other properties) in 1993? If your property did not exist before 1993 - ie the former scenario - then you should try to establish what its initial value was in 1993 as this will be the figure on which the AVD comparison is based (AVD is the 'antecedent valuation date' 1 April 1991 on which all English council tax valuations are based). You should then try to establish what a comparable property was worth in 1991. Consensus is that the market was falling between 1991 and 1993, which means that the relative banding values will be lower. Martin's article on banding shows how to get back to a 1991 value. HOWEVER, there were local differences. For example, where I live perceived wisdom is that house prices fell between 1991 and 1994 however I was able to go back through press archives and show that house prices when my home was first built - 1994 - were in exactly the same ball park as when the AVD was set in 1991. Also, if your home was new in 1993 you should try and establish (perhaps by speaking to neighbours in the conversions if they were the original tenants or through the local press if not) whether carpets and white goods were included in the sale price. These are not supposed to be included in the value of the house and it may be possible to reduce your home's valuation accordingly.

Location is a critical point and it appeared to me - both from the tribunal panel's responses and that of the Valuation Officer who was putting his case against me - that the nearer the better. If you can compare your flat to others in the same building, same street, or close neighbourhood then that is significantly better than comparing to some random property miles away. Suggestion: go onto the VOA website with a list of local streets and see whether there are other band A properties nearby. You can also go onto the Valuation Tribunal Service's website and read appeal judgements for your area and see what previous prescedents have been set. Having read through a lot of judgements, those along the lines of 'my mum's house is bigger and in a lower band' are quite likely to lose at tribunal if they don't contain good like-for-like evidence. If you are comparing to a property nearby make sure that you prepare a map for tribunal showing how close the properties are to each other.

In terms of size of property, square meterage was taken in consideration with regard to my property. If you have a garage that is not attached to your home, then this should not be considered in its value (ie if your garage was worth - say £1k - at the time of initial building then this figure should be stripped out of the value). If you are going to tribunal, the Valuation Office will tell you the properties it is planning to use against you, and their square meterage. You are allowed to request data on a comparable number of properties from them (will mean you need to visit their offices). This will enable you to establish the initial selling price or AVD value of those properties and their square meterage. Again, the closer you can get in size to your own property the better.

Layout of property could be relevant if you can prove that yours is disadvantaged compared to other band B properties or comparable to other band A properties, but do you have access to floor plans etc for these?

Character of property can be a useful factor. If you live in a converted Victorian house in a street which is next door to purpose built flats, you could reasonably argue that your property is most similar in price and layout to other Victorian flats than the purpose built ones next door.

The more evidence you have, the better chance you have of winning, so asap I would:

1. Find out what properties the VOA plan to use against you.
2. Get your research hat on and find out what similar properties you can use as a basis for appeal - use the VOA website and house price websites (eg Mouseprice.com - though recent prices may not be accepted as evidence of similar prices in 1991)
3. Get in touch with your local library and find out whether you can see old newspapers either in hard copy or on microfiche. These should help you establish comparable prices in both 1991 and 1993.
4. Having established what the best possible band A properties are by way of comparison, contact the VOA and get evidence on these.

Good luck with your appeal, but one caveat - don't think because your property is small it should be band A - I used to live in a one-bedroom ex-council property and that, and every single identical property, was band C! I would like to see a system which is half based on square meterage and half based on value as this would be much fairer!!






HI All

can anyone tell me if they have made an appeal and the valuation office has based there evidence on the following:

a.Location
b.Size of property..cubic space etc...
c.Layout of property
d.Character of property

I live in a 1 bedroom flat.Banding is a B.I have made an appeal that the banding should be an A.
The building is Edwardian house from 1910.Made into 3 flats now and been a band B since 1993 according to the local authorities.

Do I need to check on the flat prices simular to mine to check banding or what the property as a WHOLE house valued at in 1991..

I need evidence for my appeal..if anyone can help...Thanks