Council Tax banding

Mitzybon50

Followed the advice given by Martin Lewis and applied for a reassessment of council tax band on a property I have let on and off for twenty years. Assessor came out within two weeks and agreed the band was wrong. Being changed from an E to a D and twenty years council tax overcharge to be reimbursed. So thank you!

122252

After watching Martin's show regarding council tax banding I decided to check mine.  I have found that I am in tax band c when my neighbours with the same size properties are in tax band B.  I filled out the appeal form and today received a letter saying that my claim was rejected as it was out of time.  I don't remember Martin saying that the claim had to be made within 6 months of moving in.  I would like to appeal this decision but don't know how to go about it.  Any advice would be appreciated.

lincroft1710

122252 said:

After watching Martin's show regarding council tax banding I decided to check mine.  I have found that I am in tax band c when my neighbours with the same size properties are in tax band B.  I filled out the appeal form and today received a letter saying that my claim was rejected as it was out of time.  I don't remember Martin saying that the claim had to be made within 6 months of moving in.  I would like to appeal this decision but don't know how to go about it.  Any advice would be appreciated.

If you are outside the 6 month time limit, there is absolutely no point in appealing the decision. It won't get you anywhere and it will delay any actual investigation of your band.

What you should do (and should have done rather than fill in an appeal form) is write to the VOA and ask for a CT band review as your home is in Band C and similar properties (quote the addresses) are in Band B.

MD79

Hi all. I've recently moved into a house which is in a higher council tax band then every other house in the row of semi-detached houses. All the house are exactly the same, built at the same time by the same developer. I emailed the Valuation Office Agency requesting that my band be changed, listing the other five neighbouring houses that are in a lower band.

I thought – wrongly – that this would be an obvious case of my band needing to be reduced. However, the Valuation Office replied saying they had checked their records and the other properties 'differ from your own in size'. It seems their records are not correct!

I have the right to make a formal challenge to this decision, but I would presumably need to show some evidence that their records are wrong and the houses are all the same size/value. Does anyone know how I could show this to their satisfaction?

lincroft1710

MD79 said:

I have the right to make a formal challenge to this decision, but I would presumably need to show some evidence that their records are wrong and the houses are all the same size/value. Does anyone know how I could show this to their satisfaction?

Send front and rear photos of all the houses

MD79

Thanks, lincroft1710. I'd also thought about trying to get hold of the original TP1 transfer deed for all six houses, which would show they all sold for the same price when new. It's easy to get hold of the latest transfer deed, but I have no idea how to obtain the first one.

lincroft1710

If possible try and get hold of the site plan, it may show your house as a different type, hence the discrepancy. The VOA will 99.99% have all sale prices of all 6 houses. 

2 further points, firstly I am assuming that your house hasn't been extended and also that it doesn't have bedrooms in the roof space, which the others don't. Secondly, the VOA may have the correct measurements for your house, but may have incorrect measurements for the other 5, which would mean they are probably underassessed. 

MD79

lincroft1710 said:

If possible try and get hold of the site plan, it may show your house as a different type, hence the discrepancy. The VOA will 99.99% have all sale prices of all 6 houses. 

2 further points, firstly I am assuming that your house hasn't been extended and also that it doesn't have bedrooms in the roof space, which the others don't. Secondly, the VOA may have the correct measurements for your house, but may have incorrect measurements for the other 5, which would mean they are probably underassessed. 

No, my house hasn't been extended and there are no bedrooms in the roof space. All six houses are the same. Another thing I've spotted is that other houses in the road that are in the same council tax band as me have an additional bedroom, are considerably larger, and some last sold in 2019 for £100,000 more than I paid for mine this year. Surely this is a case of my house being in the wrong band?

lincroft1710

MD79 said:

lincroft1710 said:

If possible try and get hold of the site plan, it may show your house as a different type, hence the discrepancy. The VOA will 99.99% have all sale prices of all 6 houses. 

2 further points, firstly I am assuming that your house hasn't been extended and also that it doesn't have bedrooms in the roof space, which the others don't. Secondly, the VOA may have the correct measurements for your house, but may have incorrect measurements for the other 5, which would mean they are probably underassessed. 

No, my house hasn't been extended and there are no bedrooms in the roof space. All six houses are the same. Another thing I've spotted is that other houses in the road that are in the same council tax band as me have an additional bedroom, are considerably larger, and some last sold in 2019 for £100,000 more than I paid for mine this year. Surely this is a case of my house being in the wrong band?

Depending on the band, It would be quite possible for your house and those with the extra bedroom to be in the same band. It is also possible that those with the extra bedroom are in a band lower than they should be. But the probability is that your house has been misidentified, or over measured or was subject to a clerical error and is in the wrong band

MD79

lincroft1710 said:

MD79 said:

lincroft1710 said:

If possible try and get hold of the site plan, it may show your house as a different type, hence the discrepancy. The VOA will 99.99% have all sale prices of all 6 houses. 

2 further points, firstly I am assuming that your house hasn't been extended and also that it doesn't have bedrooms in the roof space, which the others don't. Secondly, the VOA may have the correct measurements for your house, but may have incorrect measurements for the other 5, which would mean they are probably underassessed. 

No, my house hasn't been extended and there are no bedrooms in the roof space. All six houses are the same. Another thing I've spotted is that other houses in the road that are in the same council tax band as me have an additional bedroom, are considerably larger, and some last sold in 2019 for £100,000 more than I paid for mine this year. Surely this is a case of my house being in the wrong band?

Depending on the band, It would be quite possible for your house and those with the extra bedroom to be in the same band. It is also possible that those with the extra bedroom are in a band lower than they should be. But the probability is that your house has been misidentified, or over measured or was subject to a clerical error and is in the wrong band

Thanks again for your advice. I have no received a refund and my band has been lowered. I provided screenshots of land registry data showing original sales prices of my house and the other houses that are the same as mine but were in a lower band, and screenshots from Google Maps showing the houses in my road are all the same. Also sent a copy of the land registry plan, showing all houses are the same size.