Council tax rebanding confusion

AnnieWozz

Hello

im hoping someone can help me. 

One of my colleagues was telling me that he had asked for a reassessment and was moved down a band for council tax. I’ve looked on Martin’s instructions and although all my neighbours are the same band as me, I feel like they’re wrong. I’ve checked Land Registry and my house sold for £42,000 in 1996 meaning that in 1991 it would likely have been under £40k putting me in the lower band. However I am not sure (even after reading the instructions) what evidence I can use if I decide to go ahead and ask for a reassessment. Is anyone able to advise me on this please? 

p00hsticks

AnnieWozz said:

 I’ve checked Land Registry and my house sold for £42,000 in 1996 meaning that in 1991 it would likely have been under £40k putting me in the lower band.

House prices fell during the first half of the 1990s so if it sold for £42,000 in 1996 the valuation would almost certainly have been higher in 1991. (e.g see the second graph here https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5568/housing/uk-house-price-affordability/)

AdrianC

p00hsticks said:

AnnieWozz said:

 I’ve checked Land Registry and my house sold for £42,000 in 1996 meaning that in 1991 it would likely have been under £40k putting me in the lower band.

House prices fell during the first half of the 1990s so if it sold for £42,000 in 1996 the valuation would almost certainly have been higher in 1991. (e.g see the second graph here https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5568/housing/uk-house-price-affordability/)

That chart shows that a £42k property in 1996 would be more likely to be around £50k in 1991, assuming national average trends applied to your area... Remember the early 90s were a very hard economic time in this country - severe recession, the pound falling out of the ERM, high unemployment. There were a lot of repossessions, and a lot of people trapped in negative equity.


If your property predates the 1991 CT valuation date, then the valuation would have been done at that time - claiming three decades later that the contemporary valuation was wrong is not going to easily wash.

Rebandings tend to work when they're looking at more recent builds, or properties that have been extended since then, and the banding being contested is a later back-calculation.

The difference between Band A and Band B is that Band A is 6/9ths of the nominal, Band D amount, while B is 7/9ths. Your reduction in council tax from rebanding would therefore be 1/7th of your current amount. National average is £1,750 this year, so the annual saving would be £195, or £145 with single occupant discount.

If you're surrounded by near-identical properties which all share your banding, then - honestly - I'd save your breath.

lincroft1710

From my time in the VOA, house prices fell during the period 1989 to 1995 and did not recover to 1991 levels until 19997/8, so £42K in 1996 would be higher in 1991