Council Tax Rebanding - can I do it? 28 April 2018 at 3:12PM in Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc 3 replies 1.2K views

Zoe75

My house is banded the same as the other, pretty much identical houses on the street.

But the thing is, our garden is much smaller - we're a corner house and ours is tiny! Other houses on the street have huge back gardens. This is reflected in the price - our house is valued at significantly less than other houses on the street.

So I thought they must have valued all the houses the same at the time, and this is a good reason for review.

But - I don't understand the form - none of the reasons on it fit what I'm saying. Does this form make sense to anyone? Can I challenge it? Thanks

These are the tick boxes on the form:

I believe that the Valuation List should be altered because: (tick one box only)

a The entry set out in the Listing Officer’s Notice dated (insert date) is inaccurate.
or b Having become the taxpayer in respect of the dwelling shown above within the last six monthsI believe its present entry in the Valuation List is inaccurate.
or c The dwelling shown above should be deleted from the Valuation List.
or d The dwelling shown above should be included in the Valuation List.
or e The dwellings shown above should be included in the Valuation List as one entry.
or f The dwelling shown above should be included in the Valuation List as more than one entry.
or g There has been a ‘material reduction’ in the value of the dwelling shown above.
or h There has been a ‘material increase’ in the value and a subsequent ‘relevant transaction’ in respect of the dwelling shown above.
or i There has been an increase or decrease in the domestic use of the dwelling shown above.
or j The entry for the dwelling shown above does not take into account a relevant decision of a local Valuation Tribunal or the High Court. Details are given in Box 2 below.

lincroft1710

Firstly the garden size is unlikely to affect the banding.

If you moved in within the past 6 months, tick box b, if it is a new dwelling and you have received a notice from the Listing Officer within the past 6 months informing you of the band, tick box a.

If neither of these apply to you (you moved in over 6 months ago and not a new dwelling) you cannot make a valid appeal, you can only ask for a band review. However I would guarantee you would not receive a reduction because of the garden size.

Zoe75

Really? i'm surprised! Our garden is a postage stamp. The others are generous! The value of our house is considerably less as a result. why wouldn't that count? They've treated all the houses the same for banding, but my argument is ours should be lower as the reality it's not in the same price bracket as the others.

Seems logical to me! Am I missing something?

lincroft1710

The VOA adopted a "broad brush" approach to valuations, garden size was hardly ever taken into account. Values in 1991 didn't tend to take so much notice of garden size as they do now. Also the value of your house may be lower but that would not automatically lead to a lower band, as the value of a house with large garden could be at the top of the band, yours could be towards the bottom.

If you are outside the 6 month time limit, then I would guarantee the VOA would just reply with a generic letter saying your band is correct