VOA council tax band possible increase?

lincroft1710

115vaw wrote: »

Ours was rebanded from C to F. £1000 annual increase. That's a lot of dosh to find. And, I think, very unfair. Nothing has changed since 'they' banded is a C, and we bought in on the understanding it was a C; we may well have thought twice had it been an F.

Have yet to appeal but, having read stories above, don't hold out much hope.

Choice of 3 possibilities, the original band was incorrect or large extension(s) carried out by previous owner or the rebanding is incorrect.

Does the house compare with other Band Cs or other Band Fs?

115vaw

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Choice of 3 possibilities, the original band was incorrect or large extension(s) carried out by previous owner or the rebanding is incorrect.

Does the house compare with other Band Cs or other Band Fs?

There have been no extensions. I think it is a combination of original banding and rebanding being incorrect. However, what annoys me most, is we bought it with that banding in good faith. It seems WRONG that they can come along and just change it. You cut your cloth according to your means, then they come along (12 years after we bought the house I might add) and take a chunk of cloth away! It is just wrong.wrong.wrong.

lincroft1710

115vaw wrote: »

However, what annoys me most, is we bought it with that banding in good faith. It seems WRONG that they can come along and just change it. You cut your cloth according to your means, then they come along (12 years after we bought the house I might add) and take a chunk of cloth away! It is just wrong.wrong.wrong.

So in effect, you have been paying too little Council Tax for 12 years.

CT legislation allows for incorrect bands to be corrected at any time, which means bands can be reduced as well as increased. I'm ex VOA and have had to do a 2 band increase (D to F) and also A to E or F (can't remember). But on that occasion it was fairly apparent that the taxpayer knew A was wrong.

115vaw

lincroft1710 wrote: »

So in effect, you have been paying too little Council Tax for 12 years.

CT legislation allows for incorrect bands to be corrected at any time, which means bands can be reduced as well as increased. I'm ex VOA and have had to do a 2 band increase (D to F) and also A to E or F (can't remember). But on that occasion it was fairly apparent that the taxpayer knew A was wrong.

VOA banded it. How would I know it was (arguably) wrong? I had previously (a long time ago) owned a flat before council tax was introduced. So, my first council taxed property.
I assumed it was correct. I assumed the VOA would have a process to ensure it was correct.

Bring back poll tax I say.

lincroft1710

My assumption following your post#51, was that you had only just bought the house, hence the surprise that you have been in occupation for 12 years.

You say you wouldn't have bought the property had it been Band F. The probability is that other properties on the market around the price you paid for your house would have also been Band F.

Most of the original banding was done by contractors, who had a small sample of their work checked to ensure they were doing the job correctly. After which there were only occasional checks, so mistakes could easily happen. So no, the VOA had no process to ensure it was correct.