House improvements and improvement indicator

VeniVidiVisa

I have recieved a letter today saying that my council tax band is changing due to the improvements that the previous owner made, and the new band would be confirmed in the next couple of weeks. I have checked and there is an improvement indicator against my house. I'm really upset as my budget is so tight, and I bought the house two and a half years ago. The previous owner bought it twenty years ago, never lived in it - it's a barn that was a workshop near his big house. He started converting it twenty years ago, gave up and never finished. He used it as a party venue and a place for guests to stay.
I have spent the last two years repairing a wreak. I have put in a Woodburner in the workshop/living area so it is semi livable. This area still has no floor, only the concrete workshop floor with cut off electrical cables going through it. I have hobbled together a kitchen, and got lpg gas connected. He put wooden windows in but they were never painted ( in twenty years) . I have glued, painted, and stuck them together. We have had a tree surgeon remove the tree that was leaning over and resting on the roof. I have septic digester fixed and emptied. ( never emptied in twenty years) and replaced the seized motors.

How can I prove the state of the property when I moved in. The sales brochure shows the better bits. How am I supposed to know what 'improvements' they mean? I didn't get cheated on buying house as it was a fair price for its condition.
I don't know what to do.

AdrianC

He would have had planning permission to convert it - and the improvement that planning permission gave is the "improvement" they work off. Strange though it is, any major improvement isn't reflected in the council tax until the next change of council tax payer - and the II flag shows that's waiting to be done. TBH, I'm surprised it's taken them so long to catch up with you - have you just moved in as far as CT is concerned?

The band that'll be allocated is the band that the finished property is presumed to belong in. If you don't think it's the right band, you can appeal, presenting the evidence you have, but the actual condition of the property isn't deemed relevant, just the size/location etc.

VeniVidiVisa

We have been living in and paying council tax here for two and a half years. I presume the previous owner paid council tax. I have looked regarding the planning permission, but although I can find he had pp in 1994, there are no details on the planning office website. I know someone was living here before that above the workshop, but I don't know how to find out. So what was here before and after I don't know.

So I am presuming that pp changed the workshop to residential, and so the council tax band will change due to change of use, even though materially it has not changed.

AdrianC

At the end of the day, when you bought the place, it would have had the II flag against it. That means one thing only - you can't guarantee the CT band will stay the same. Whether you realised it was there or not, it would have been there.

There was one against this house when we moved in two and a half years ago - they rebanded it within a month or two. We appealed it, they explained why they'd made the decision they had, and showed their working.

VeniVidiVisa

Actually materially it could have changed. I don't know whether it has.

VeniVidiVisa

If our property had a flag against it when we bought it two and a half years ago, why would it take so long to contact us? And then only to say they are investigating? Obviously I'm stressed out by this.

It transpires, our neighbour, has appealed against their council tax and I feel that it was that that has flagged this property up. I have a feeling that I checked, and there was no flag when we bought. They bought their house three years ago, and are on a higher band than we are. The properties are both barns but are quite different, and they paid a lot more for theirs

VeniVidiVisa

Council tax has gone from a B to F. I'm going to have to sell. We have been sent a bill: not backdated but still unaffordable. No explanation. As we pay by direct debit they say they have changed that to the new amount. No information regarding how to appeal.

libf

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

lincroft1710

Lets just slow down a little!

Bear in mind it could cost you £10,000 to sell, buy and move. You will also have to find a house with an affordable CT band.

It's very easy to appeal the band, there's a link on this page, but no guarantee of a reduction.

Rodders53

B to F is not quite double the council tax bill --- if money is that tight how are you going to afford to pay the removals, estate agents and solicitors fees when you sell?

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-appeals might help? with the issue of contesting the valuation office agency figure - but they should also have written to you (as well as your Council).

The VOA sometimes 'miss' a property transfer/sale event (they claim) -- my wife's parents property got revalued up one band some 8 years after they moved in due to the next door neighbours appealing their valuation when half the property was left to one son.

VeniVidiVisa

I have now recieved the letter from VOA stating the change in band is due to improvements made by the previous owner. The accompanying notes stated that to appeal I need to first contact my local VOA office and discuss it, and then I could appeal after that if still disagreed.
So I rang and asked what improvements the previous owner had made, but they couldn't tell me, but then said that the valuation was based on price we paid. I told them that the price included agricultural land and barns. They said they were aware that there was a "sizeable chunk of land". I said I thought that agricultural land, which it definitely is, is not subject to council tax. To which they said that I was happy to pay the price and that's what it must be worth, and that the estate agents particulars look fine. They conceded that the particulars also said the property needs finishing. I asked if they could send a valuer, the answer was no as the valuation had been done. I asked why they waited two and a half years, and give me less opportunity to prove what the house was like, and they said for some reason it had not been flagged up until now.
I asked how we could move forward with this, and they said they would sent a form and it was easy as all I had to do was tick a box.
The form has been recieved and it's not that easy.
I don't know which box to tick.
How can I prove the generousness of the estate agents particulars. It sounds that the VOA do their own appeals and the decision is already made.
The hardest question is what band I think it should be. It seems to me they need to get a professional valuer.
Anyone's experience would be gratefully recieved.