Trying to lower council tax band

AlexisV

I moved into a flat in March and have just received my first council tax bill. They've put us in band C, which seems high compared to the size of the flat and the fact my previous flat was in B.

I appealed on the VOA website and received a letter.

The letter was in two parts. Part one said the appeal was invalid because I had appealed after 6 months and that by law a notice of invalidity must be issued.

Part two was more friendly and said the housing officer would review the situation over the next 8 weeks and to submit any representations.

So two conflicting pieces of information.



So in my representation I have made three points in my letter:

1. I am on the second floor of the complex and the VOA site says there are two properties on that floor in Band C. I have enclosed particulars for 3 other flats on the floor currently for sale, all identical to mine, which means that 2 are in band C (including mine) and therefore 2 must be in band B, despite them being identical.

2. The building only consists of two property types - 2 bedrooms and 1 bedroom flats. All the properties in the building are in three bands: A, B or C, even though there are only two design of flats.

3. According to the Nationwide House Price calculator, the estimated price of my property in 1991 would be £xxx, which places me in band B.


Do these points sound reasonable and good grounds for a reassessment?

SquatNow

You could become very popular if they choose to put the bands on the "B" rated flats up to "C" to match yours...

I read something about this a while back. A man complained that it was unfair that his house was in band D when all the other identical houses on the street were in band C. So the council just put up the bands on all the other houses in the street. I think the man had to move away from the area in the end.

AlexisV

LOL. It's a risk I'm willing to take!

vivatifosi

Hi Alexis,

If you go over to the "Cutting Tax" boards there are several threads on Council Tax that you might find useful.

Does the council say that there are two flats that are C on that floor, or have they only given you evidence for two flats? Double check the banding of the other flats on the VOA website (if you haven't already done so). How old are the flats? It may be that at the time of valuation there were two for sale at different prices and that's why they are valued differently.

I've won a tribunal on my house under these kind of circumstances (ie 1/3rd were band D 2/3rds were band E) and I managed to get the band reduced. You do however need to establish what your flat was worth in 1991.

In terms of their putting the bands up SquatNow is correct, but they need good evidence to do this or the people in those flats would be perfectly entitled to take them to tribunal and fight to have them put back down again.

You should also check on the VOA for decision codes (eg V) next to flats as that shows where a property has gone to tribunal. You may find that also gives you some evidence to fight on. If a property has gone to tribunal and had its band reduced, that is great evidence for you to use in your case.

Good luck!

AlexisV

Hi

There are 22 flats on my floor (I'm having to go by floors because particulars never mention the actual flat number) and going through them all on the VOA websites, there's a mix of A and B with just me and someone else on a C. I'll check out decision codes on the site though.

I'm thinking that there's no way I'm a D, so I've got nothing to lose by getting them to look at the case. I don't understand the lack of consistency though - it's a fairly new build (2003) and you'd think they'd just allocate the one bedrooms as one band and the two bedrooms as the other.

kt

LOWERING COUNCIL TAX BAND

I have recently asked for a review of our council tax band (currently F). The property has been extended but before we moved in. I live in an area of semi-detached dwellings all D with exception of similar detached next door, band E. (They have extended but are still living there). Whilst our house definately falls within the band of E and valuation. (We bought the property in Dec 1985 for £76,500- Outer Metropolitan area). The VOA are telling us that they are basing their figures on the size of the property also that they looked at similar properties at 1991 figures (there are none around!) Have I got a case?

vivatifosi

Hi KT,

Hard to know for sure.

If your house was extended before you moved in, it was probably included in your banding when the houses were first assessed. Your next door neighbour's will not be re-banded until they move if they have built the extension since the CT came in but not moved yet. Check the VOA website, you may find that your neighbour's address has got a little blue circle with an I in next to it. That indicates that it is up for reassessment when your neighbours move.

The house price calculators are not really accepted by the VOA as evidence as the values vary wildly. Where I live, the house prices are out by about 8% on the calcs, but don't take into account differences in types of property, so can be between 5-40% out depending on type. That's the problem with averages!

The only way you can really know (other than talking to the VOA and asking for evidence of what the original pricing was based on) is to go back through your local papers at the library to 1991 and see what was on the market then and see what is similar and how much it went for. This is easy when there are lots of houses the same, but be warned, it could cost you several hours of fruitless research if your property is unusual.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

CSL_2

Dead right. If you have a property that is unlike any others in your area, it can be months and months before you can have enough evidence to even think about approaching the VOA for a review of your Banding.

For example: I have a small ONE BEDROOM Semi-detached 1987 built Bellway house. 39m2 with tiny garden and OSP in London SW4 in Band D!!!. Value at 1st April 1991 - Band C. Have found it impossible to find a similar house in Clapham SW4 to try to get it reduced to Band C.

My only hope is finding someone who knows of a similar tiny ONE BEDROOM house of just 39m2 in any other Greater London Post Code area - say E1 to SW20, that I can use for comparison purposes.

CSL
[EMAIL="Clivesteuk@aol.com"]Clivesteuk@aol.com[/EMAIL]
Saturday 17th November 2007

url house photo link added 19th Nov 2007:-

http://journals.aol.co.uk/clivesteuk/convincing-the-voa-listing-offic/

kt

Many thanks for your input. I have searched the area and found a couple of properties, one much bigger and sold in 2005 and is banded in E. There is also another which perhaps is not as big as ours but in a better area and that is banded as D. I have listed both these as evidence and will await their feedback. I suppose the only thing they can so is say no - and that will just leave my in the same position as before, so I guess I have nothing to lose in fighting it.
I thank you for your thoughts re the library and it might be a way forward. The other thing I was thinking about is trying to find out what the percentage increase in house prices was between Dec 1985 (when we bought the property) and April 1991 when the VOA take the valuation. Would appreciate it if you have any ideas on how to find this out.

guppy

SquatNow wrote: »

So the council just put up the bands on all the other houses in the street. I think the man had to move away from the area in the end.

If you're referring to Mr. Pigden...it don't say anything about him being hounded out!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=468819&in_page_id=1&in_page_id=1&expand=true

Alexis, one thing you could look at is the original sale prices in 2003 of all the flats in the block on nethouseprices.com and then match these up with the bandings from the VOA website.

It won't prove what the flat would have been worth at 1991, but it might highlight any inconsistencies that support your case.

Could the Band A flats be studios?