Council Tax

jacko74

Hi, just a quick query regarding how Council Tax bands are calculated.

I always assumed they were just based on the size and market value of your property?

However,I recently inquired about a small 1 bed flat that is on the market for £95k and was told by the E.A. that it's a band C. When I questioned this the agent just said it's down to ''the location and all the apartments in the building are band C''.

Some of the apartments in this block are much larger (3 beds with verandas or private gardens and are much more expensive (on the market for £180k) and as for the location it's not regarded as a particularly posh or expensive area.

I would have assumed given the size and price of the property it would have been band A or B? You certainly can't buy anything smaller or cheaper in this area.

Is it usual when you get a block of flats that they're all just given one council tax banding regardless of their individual sizes and values?

(n.b. for comparison purposes I'm currently renting a 3 bed semi with front and rear gardens, conservatory and large private off road parking in the same L.A. area which is also Band C)!!

Doozergirl

Have you looked at the VOA website to check what he has said is correct?

It is based on market value. They do sometimes get it wrong, so people should check against their neighbours etc.

kinger101

See this too.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-tax-bands-changehttp://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-tax-bands-change

I think it could be a good candidate for a rebanding appeal should you buy it.

AdrianC

The band is based on the nominal value in 1991. In some areas, the smallest places will be way above Band A, in others you'll be able to get decent size houses in Band A.

The bands are quite wide - Band C covers places that were worth £52k to £68k at 1991 values, so it's entirely possible a larger place would be at the upper end of that range and the smaller at the lower end.

jacko74

Thanks for all the replies. The flat is actually part of quite a large estate of what was previously all holiday lets but are now all being sold off privately, ranging from 1 bed flats up to 3 bed detached houses and according to VOA everything on the estate is Band C.
So even based on 1991 valuations it doesn't really make sense that they're all lumped together in Band C!

I don't think it's one that I'll be pursuing but if I did I would certainly appeal the banding with the L.A.