Council Tax Rebranding - Can you help me prepare my case?

stephcyl

Hi All,

Am hoping you can help me.
We bought a house last year that was branded band E. In my opinion, I feel this band is too high because of the location of the property. The house is in question is a 3 bed house, 2 bathrooms. Their valuation report said its 94m2, though I don't know how to verify this.
This was challenged initially with a poorly prepared argument and it was rejected. Their reasons are two-fold:
1. The house valuation for 1991 would have been between 88,000 to 120,000.
2. That the house is detached and that similar houses in that area is band E.

My Counter argument:
1. The house was built in 1999. Although it was sold in 2nd quater of 2000 for £156,995 which would put it in band E as they said. However, we bought it in the 3rd quarter of 2015 for £261,000, which would then put in band D when I do the back calculation using Nationwide calculator. Is this argument valid? Can I present the most recent sale value as opposed to the very first sale value?

2. The house is not detached but link-detached. It's attached in each side to a garage. There is no side entrance to the garden. All the houses in that estate banded E (with the exception of mine and 1 other property) are either a) Link-detached to their own garage,but only one end, the other end completely free (an end terrace) 2)Link-detached to their own garage, and the other side completely detached, and not an end terrace. They all have side entrance to the garden.
Now, the other properties banded D are either link-semidetached, i.e, linked to a garage on one side, and attached to another house on the other side, or terraced but with four bed.

How strong a case do I have now? How should I present it better?

antrobus

stephcyl wrote: »

...1. The house was built in 1999. Although it was sold in 2nd quater of 2000 for £156,995 which would put it in band E as they said. ...

So, you agree that the property was in band E when constructed in 1999.

That would leave you in the position of claiming that there had been a material reduction in the value since 1999. I believe that means that you have to come up with some specific reason why there has been a 'material reduction'; such as demolishing part of the property, or the construction nearby of a wind farm, bypass, or something similar.

CIS

The valuation will be based on the assessed open market value at the time the council tax bands were last valued (i.e in the April 1991 value in England and the April 2003 value in Wales). You can't use a sale value later than that date in your argument for the original valuation.

You could, as the previous poster has pointed out, argue a material reduction if there has been one or you could ask the Valuation Office to look again at the original decision and re-check the original valuation.

stephcyl

antrobus wrote: »

So, you agree that the property was in band E when constructed in 1999.

That would leave you in the position of claiming that there had been a material reduction in the value since 1999. I believe that means that you have to come up with some specific reason why there has been a 'material reduction'; such as demolishing part of the property, or the construction nearby of a wind farm, bypass, or something similar.

Yes, based on the initial value, it's correct.
Unfortunately I don't know of any material reduction now, except that the house was in bad shape when we bought it, hence the reduced price.
I also believe it was over valued then as there are no houses within a 2 mile radius that is band E, except the few on that estate

stephcyl

CIS wrote: »

The valuation will be based on the assessed open market value at the time the council tax bands were last valued (i.e in the April 1991 value in England and the April 2003 value in Wales). You can't use a sale value later than that date in your argument for the original valuation.

You could, as the previous poster has pointed out, argue a material reduction if there has been one or you could ask the Valuation Office to look again at the original decision and re-check the original valuation.

Thanks for your response. I now understand I cannot use the most recent sale as an argument. Based on what then can I ask the valuation office to re-check the original valuation? Can I use my second argument, i.e, based on the other properties that were banded same?

lincroft1710

Were you in time to make a valid proposal as opposed to just saying the band is incorrect and asking for it to be reviewed?

Also as you bought the house in a poor condition your purchase price has to be ignored

stephcyl

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Were you in time to make a valid proposal as opposed to just saying the band is incorrect and asking for it to be reviewed?

Also as you bought the house in a poor condition your purchase price has to be ignored

I don't understand what you mean by being in time.
We moved in July, sent the challenge a bit later. Got a decision in January with 3 months to appeal.
I am planning the appeal now. Does that mean we are in time?

lincroft1710

There is a 6 month time limit on challenging CT bands, clearly you were in time as you moved in last July and made the proposal within 6 months. If you appeal to the Valuation Tribunal then the VOA have to send you the evidence supporting their case. This will make interesting reading.

In the meantime you may need to do a bit of legwork. Try and find a detached/link detached similar size houses in the locality which are in Band D. Look at houses built from 1970 onwards.