Council Tax Challenge Question

charl13is

Hi There


We've recently moved into a property and I'm looking to query the council tax banding. I've done the neighbour check and found them to be in a lower band for a similar property. I've also done the valuation check and found that all properties fall within the low band bracket.
I've started to lodge a challenge but I've noticed that the other properties have "Improvement Indicators", does this mean they can't be used as evidence?


Thanks

p00hsticks

I'm not an expert, but I'd say you need to try to determine what improvements have been made to those properties that has caused the indicator to be added, and if your property has already had the same in the past - it may be that your has had the same inprovements and as a result has already been rebanded upwards when your purchase (or a previous one) took place.

CIS

charl13is wrote: »

Hi There


We've recently moved into a property and I'm looking to query the council tax banding. I've done the neighbour check and found them to be in a lower band for a similar property. I've also done the valuation check and found that all properties fall within the low band bracket.
I've started to lodge a challenge but I've noticed that the other properties have "Improvement Indicators", does this mean they can't be used as evidence?


Thanks

The improvement indicator is for the band to be looked at on sale. If they've been improved since purchase it would be the original condition at that date of purchase which needs to be looked at to compare the band back over.

lincroft1710

It would be helpful if you could say which band you are in, which house price index you used and how much it valued your house at, and whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales..

charl13is

lincroft1710 wrote: »

It would be helpful if you could say which band you are in, which house price index you used and how much it valued your house at, and whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales..

We're currently in band F (England), using the Nationwide calculator it's estimated the value of the property at £98,500 in April 1991.

CIS

So you think it should be roughly middle of a Band E rather than an F band.

Looking at your property, relative to the (unimproved) neighbouring property then what is the difference ?

If your property has been extended and sold since 1991 (but prior to your purchase) then that may be the reason for the difference.

charl13is

CIS wrote: »

So you think it should be roughly middle of a Band E rather than an F band.

Looking at your property, relative to the (unimproved) neighbouring property then what is the difference ?

If your property has been extended and sold since 1991 (but prior to your purchase) then that may be the reason for the difference.

It's a tricky one as there aren't many properties like ours in the street. I would have thought any extension to ours would have been brought to our attention by the solicitor during the purchase so I don't think it has. I'll have a scout around to see if I can find any others near by.

lincroft1710

Even allowing for the percentage inaccuracy of the NW HPI, that does seem a low figure for a Band F.