my council tax is being changed from A to B

plantain

Its a 3 bed end terrace ex council house in newcastle upon tyne. the previous owner bought it for £132000 in 2010, only made cosmetic changes, then I bought it for £141000, mostly because there was another person interested. VOA have decided that this means the house must have been improved to a point where if this were 1991, the house would be worth more than £40000.

It's fair enough to think that, at some point an owner, not the previous owner, has moved he kitchen to the dining room and put french windows in to the lounge.

my question is now VOA is involved, can they only base their decision on work the previous owner did or can they base it on any work done at any time on the property? I can imagine the latter is true and the small amount of work that has been done will tip it over the edge and into the B band.

AdrianC

Who did what work is irrelevant. The only question is what that house, as it stands now, would have been worth in 1991.

Presumably, for the VOA to get involved after this sale, there was an improvement index flag against the property when you viewed and offered? If so, then there must have been sufficient work done to it to raise that flag.

lincroft1710

Any alterations, improvements and extensions to the house carried out prior to your purchase can be reflected in the CT band.

PasturesNew

This is something not often given a mention in TV programmes where they knock houses about all in the name of "profit". It really should get greater exposure.

plantain

i dont think the improvements were considered by the VOA as they arent aware of them, and the initial valuation of the house was only £3k more than in 2010 when it was sold last. the VOA are getting involved purely because I had to overbid, Im thinking the 2 improvements will just be used as an excuse.

when the mortgage valuation came in, it was for my eventual bid of £141k so my bid blatently influenced it. if i bid the asking of £135k then thats what the valuation would have come in as.

lincroft1710

Why not ring the VOA on Tuesday and ask exactly why the band has increased? If you don't agree with their reasons, appeal the increase.

plantain

i did that, they just said the same thing that was in the form. im appealing it.

lincroft1710

After you receive a date for a Valuation Tribunal hearing, the VOA will contact you with details of other houses which support their view that your house should be Band B. You can then see if there is any justification for the increase.

Are any other similar 3 bed end terrace or semis on the estate in Band B?

Annie1960

Search for your property using this link.

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

If there is an improvement indicator against your property, this means it will automatically be revalued on sale.

plantain

Annie1960 wrote: »

Search for your property using this link.

If there is an improvement indicator against your property, this means it will automatically be revalued on sale.

There's no improvement indicator but it shows as already being in band a

plantain

lincroft1710 wrote: »

After you receive a date for a Valuation Tribunal hearing, the VOA will contact you with details of other houses which support their view that your house should be Band B. You can then see if there is any justification for the increase.

Are any other similar 3 bed end terrace or semis on the estate in Band B?

Yeh quite a few now I've had a look