Council Tax rebanding questions

jimmyriverbank

Hello all,

I am looking for some wisdom and I believe this is the place to find it!

I have been looking into our council tax banding and believe we have a case to be lowered from band D to C.

Our road consists mainly of large victorian houses, all of similar size and shape, a number of which (including ours) has been separated into flats. Our one bed flat is one of seven flats contained in the property. We are classed as band D.

After doing initial research as suggested on MSE, I have found there are a number (5 or 6) similar sized flats (e.g. 1 bed) on our road that are classified as band C. Using the valuation tool I also found that our property sits comfortably in the middle of the band C valuation for 1991 (around £60k).

I then sent a letter to the local officer saying I believed we were in the wrong banding, and asked for it to be investigated. I received a reply saying that they have not seen enough evidence to investigate the rebanding at the present time.

Any idea what information I need to provide? I have listed the similar properties that are on different (lower) bands to us, and also made reference to the 1991 valuation.

Also, is there any particular difference to this process if the property is a flat within a house, rather than a house?

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!

Best
Jim

lincroft1710

To be honest, I can't see what else you can do, except look for more flats in Band C. You must live in London or similar, if they're putting 1 bed converted flats in Band D.

The valuation of all dwelling types is the same, what price would it have achieved had it been sold on 1 Apr 1991.

Kelsea

This is my first post so do hope I'm posting in the correct place and someone might be able to assist me.

We have lived in our property since new 1981. As hard as this might be to believe we have only JUST realised that we are banded G whilst all the other identical houses in our cul de sac are banded F. It never crossed our minds to check as assumed the banding had been by professionals therefore would be accurate.
There are about 40 houses in the cul de sac with very few changing hands.

I have been in touch with Valuation office who have stated in their letter that I must produce evidence of house value two years either side of 1991. I have spent all day trying to find this but without luck prior to around 1995. I have found a sales for March 96 at £116,500 but that probably wouldn't be evidence as outside the 2 years. Based on this I also question if the houses should be in band E. To go through a local paper trying to find one of the properties would take forever as I can't remember ever seeing one advertised even with the rare change of hands.

I really have no idea how to go forward with this. If we are successful would we be due a refund on the overpayment?

Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

lincroft1710

As house prices fell from 1991 to 1995/6, the 1996 price would suggest Band F. There is no short cut to finding house prices from 1989 to 1993, they are not in the public domain.

Personally I would have thought that the evidence of all the Band F houses would have sufficed, but........

Any overpayment should be refunded, but I understand some councils are limiting this to 7 years .

Kelsea

Thank you Lincroft for your reply and your help. I will forward the info I have relating to the later date and see what happens. It does seem a little unfair if the info they are insisting on is actually not possible to find. Every other house is banded as an F so as you say that should be enough evidence for them. Thanks again for taking the time to help me.

Kelsea

It seems evidence of price is still required for the period 2 years either side of 1991. This is proving impossible as I can find no evidence of any property in our cul de sac being sold during that time. There is very little turn over with many people like us having bought from new in 1980.
I am unsure how to go forward with this. I have supplied photographs of the houses to show they are all very similar in design and size plus a plan of the area and the list from the council showing us to be the only 'g' band in the cul de sac.
I have been in touch with all the local agents who have no records of any transaction in our cul de sac during the required time.

lincroft1710

If the VOA still won't accept your evidence, I would write to your MP, fully explain the situation, send him/her your evidence and ask them to intervene on your behalf.

There's no guarantee the MP will get a result - it's not the hardest task in the world to persuade an MP a CT band is correct, they're usually far easier to convince than the actual Council Taxpayer - I speak from experience.

Alternatively and additionally, look at other streets and try to find other similar houses in Band F, and perhaps sales.

Kelsea

Thanks again Lincroft for your help. I will write to let them kow that it would not be my intention to let this go. If necessary I will contact my MP. I'm not actually sure who it is since Teddy Taylor retired so he obviously keeps a low profile!! As for other houses in nearby streets - our cul de sac is a one off with no similar houses nearby so that may be a little tricky. Many thanks again for taking the time to help me.