Council Tax adjustment on New Build property

Querym

Has anyone had any experience with contesting this for a new build property? We moved from a rather affluent home counties village, towards a less affluent, home counties town; buying a larger new build property for a similar price to what we sold. The band on our previous property was a D, and our new home was initially billed as a C, which seemed plausible given the area being generally less pricey. Today we have received a notice, re-banding us from a C, to a G, which effectively adds 3k to our bill. As a new build development, we also will not have our roads maintained by the council, and have to pay privately through management contract for this. It's proving difficult to find property prices in the area from 1991, as the development didn't exist before, and there are mixed properties in the surrounding area. Some streets being 'nicer' than others. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can approach this? Thank you!

lincroft1710

First thing I would be asking is why it was increased from Band C to Band G. Also how much did you pay for the house?

20SmthngSver

@Querym I feel your pain. I feel the same. I bought a 2 bed terrace on band C, which according to valuation stats, is £500 below the D threshold. I too have to pay a private company for services which in 'old roads and estates' others don't have to pay for and get with their council tax. It's shambolic and is the next PPI waiting to happen.

Look on Zoopla or walk about and look to see if you have any properties similar to yours and then go on the valuation website and check using that street's postcode to see what band they are on and Zoopla to look at sold prices.

Querym

Looking at similarly sized homes situated next to the development, on a very nice private road, bigger private plots of land, and priced upto 100k higher, websites like Zoopla etc., are showing these properties are based in band F, so our valuation definitely seems wrong. How can the valuation office come up with these pie in the sky bands without looking at this? Every 4 bed detached house I have looked at around the development, that is currently valued higher; is in a lower band. It would seem that some people who moved into the development over previous years, have been given higher bands, and have not challenged them, so perhaps they have just carried on doling out these higher bands assuming we will all just accept! 

20SmthngSver

Yeah this doesn't sound right to me at all. Get print outs from Zoopla for the sold prices for some similar properties in different roads on your estates and also a print out from Valuation Office website of their post code check to show the banding, along with your own info, and send it off. 

It's like with me, I was the only person to pay full price for my 2 bed terrace, the other 7 all paid less, between £2000 and £17000 less. We are all band C, but my house price put me at £500 below band D, so when I sell, whoever buys will be on band D but the others will still be C. It's a small 2 bed terrace! It's ridiculous. I'm a single occupant and I'm proportionally paying more for using less services than the family of 3 some doors down or the couples, on two incomes. 

Querym

Thank you @20SmthngSver, I do agree. It seems crazy that the council are allowed to refuse full service, yet still charge full fee! What private business would get away with that?! I don't understand why this hasn't been challenged before, the more people who speak up about it, the better. I am going to raise it with our local MP, and ask the question, as to why new-build homeowners are effectively being penalised in this way, but if anyone has any other suggestions on what can be done about this, please do share. Thank you!

20SmthngSver

@Querym It's the next PPI scandal waiting to happen. Read about private management land fees on the Homeowners Alliance website. Your property is freehold yet the charge is tied to the deeds of your house, so when you sell you have to pay the management company a fee for the privileged, it's been dubbed 'fleecehold'. There's no tribunal for freeholds likes leaseholds because, well, freehold is meant to be your land. So these management companies, which are limited companies with directors who can claim expenses and pension contributions with money you pay for grass cutting, can get away with anything. It's so wrong. But things will never change. It's already been raised in Parliament a few times. I have a park in front of me, yet I am paying the council tax and also a management fee for a park on the estate for which I don't use as I have no children. Yet the council housing in front of me who get subsidised or free council tax through benefits with kids get to use and abuse it. And for families to use it who don't even live on the estate. So wrong.

lincroft1710

20SmthngSver said:

Yeah this doesn't sound right to me at all. Get print outs from Zoopla for the sold prices for some similar properties in different roads on your estates and also a print out from Valuation Office website of their post code check to show the banding, along with your own info, and send it off. 

It's like with me, I was the only person to pay full price for my 2 bed terrace, the other 7 all paid less, between £2000 and £17000 less. We are all band C, but my house price put me at £500 below band D, so when I sell, whoever buys will be on band D but the others will still be C. It's a small 2 bed terrace! It's ridiculous. I'm a single occupant and I'm proportionally paying more for using less services than the family of 3 some doors down or the couples, on two incomes. 

Unless your house has been extended during your ownership, the CT band would not be automatically reviewed, so would stay at Band C after being sold

lincroft1710

As a reminder, Council Tax is not a payment for services, it is a tax on the occupation of property which goes towards funding council spending. Education and adult social care are usually the two biggest items of expence by councils

Querym

@lincroft1710 Thank you, yes I understand that Council Tax contributes towards social / housing benefit funding etc, which for our council, is also by far the largest outlay, education fares rather less well; but that's a different matter! The councils receive central government grants in that regards, and are free to divvy it up as they see fit. 
As for my own particular gripe, it is the fact that our council is responsible for road maintenance, lighting etc., yet we have been excluded from this by way of developer opt-out, yet receive no 'discount' for those services not being supplied. I agree it is perhaps a tiny proportion of the pot, but it's the principle here.
Regarding the council tax band. As it's a new-build property, we had a code given to us when we moved in 5 months ago. And now we have received an update to that code, lifting it from a C to a H. So someone somewhere at the valuation office, has reviewed this - but not from what I can see, in a way that is fair.  

elmer

So as Lincroft says, its a tax, there is no discount for the areas that you dont access regardless of the reason or principles you hold
However as you have moved into a new build you should have a right to appeal of the band to the VOA if you are within six months, so if youve been there five months, perhaps you should get a move on

elmer