Council Tax

garcon6

Since we moved to our house we are paying a Band C rate.  After checking online our next door neighbour is a Band B, all other properties are a Band C.  I contacted the Valuation Office, their reply " we are satisfied your property falls within the value range of £52,001 and £68,000 at 1st April 1991 and that the current Council Tax band C is correct".  I think that this is unfair, houses are identical, we are paying more they are paying less, not sure how they are a Band B.  I need some advise on how to challenge the decision made by the valuation office.

thanks,

Garcon.

lincroft1710

Try and find out why next door is Band B. Is it in any way different to your home. If all the other houses are Band C and yours is similar, you are going to have an uphill struggle. Also look around and see if you can find any other houses similar to Band B.

There is always the possibility that Band C is correct and next door is incorrect.

Exodi

People always seem to get blinkered on their house being too high, rather than the possibility that the other house is too low.

That would be a nice greeting gift from you to your new neighbour, putting their council tax up

If 'all other properties are a Band C', it feels the very likely outcome is getting your neighbours council tax raised.

To try and remain objective, comparables provided for valuation queries should be of a similar size. Appreciate it's not common knowledge what square meterage everyones houses are BUT you can find EPC certificates for a lot of properties online: https://find-energy-certificate.digital.communities.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/search-by-postcode?lang=en&property_type=domestic

If your houses are of similar type (e.g. two bed semi-detached) and of similar size (e.g. both around about the same m2) then you might have a case - but as above (and as lincroft has said) - the case would very likely be that your neighbour should be band C.

Enjoy!

Jimjim78

Comparing council tax banding isn't always as straight forward as it may seem.

You say that the house next door is identical, maybe it is now, but perhaps back in 1991 it wasn't. My first house was in a row of 7 that outwardly appeared identical when council tax valuations were carried out. Six of those houses were placed in Band B and mine was placed in Band A.

The reason being that mine had not been updated in over 30 years, no central heating, single glazed, ancient wiring etc, the other 6 had all been modernised. The value of the houses were also close to the Band A/B threshold, between £38k and £42K.

Since the 90's all have have been further updated and could be said to be identical now. However none of the work done over the years was sufficient to attract a home improvement indicator marker. All 7 houses are still in the original & correct CT Bands based on the values of 01/04/1991.

ItsComingRome

garcon6 said:

Since we moved to our house we are paying a Band C rate.  After checking online our next door neighbour is a Band B, all other properties are a Band C.  I contacted the Valuation Office, their reply " we are satisfied your property falls within the value range of £52,001 and £68,000 at 1st April 1991 and that the current Council Tax band C is correct".  I think that this is unfair, houses are identical, we are paying more they are paying less, not sure how they are a Band B.  I need some advise on how to challenge the decision made by the valuation office.

thanks,

Garcon.

The only way to challenge it is via a tribunal.

For what it's worth it's not necessarily sensible the way the prices were calculated.

Mine is Band B but some of my neighbours on the row are A and the end houses are C (this is obviously because they are three-bed "foreman" terraces rather than the typical 2.)

I challenged the valuation pointing to the other houses in the row being similar which were mostly Band A and was knocked back. My neighbour informed me that they tried this years ago and took it all the way to a tribunal and were told that because ours had external toilets they were valued higher.  Yes, having to go and take a you-know-what outside rather than inside was apparently considered to be more valuable.  And no, none of these outbuildings even exist anymore.

Exodi

Jimjim78 said:

Comparing council tax banding isn't always as straight forward as it may seem.

You say that the house next door is identical, maybe it is now, but perhaps back in 1991 it wasn't. My first house was in a row of 7 that outwardly appeared identical when council tax valuations were carried out. Six of those houses were placed in Band B and mine was placed in Band A.

The reason being that mine had not been updated in over 30 years, no central heating, single glazed, ancient wiring etc, the other 6 had all been modernised. The value of the houses were also close to the Band A/B threshold, between £38k and £42K.

Since the 90's all have have been further updated and could be said to be identical now. However none of the work done over the years was sufficient to attract a home improvement indicator marker. All 7 houses are still in the original & correct CT Bands based on the values of 01/04/1991.

Sorry but I beg to differ - I'd imagine if a proposal to alter the list was raised, your first house would likely be brought in line. Reason it hasn't happened is that all of the neighbours are probably aware that it's unlikely their houses would be lowered to band A and the likely result would be the outlier property increasing to band B (which doesn't benefit them) - the OP in this thread is unique in their thinking that all other properties would be changed.

The process isn't as vague as you suggest - if the houses are of similar type, size and specification, they will be aligned. Council tax bands aren't constantly reviewed and are reliant on external input to influence change.

lincroft1710

ItsComingRome said:

garcon6 said:

Since we moved to our house we are paying a Band C rate.  After checking online our next door neighbour is a Band B, all other properties are a Band C.  I contacted the Valuation Office, their reply " we are satisfied your property falls within the value range of £52,001 and £68,000 at 1st April 1991 and that the current Council Tax band C is correct".  I think that this is unfair, houses are identical, we are paying more they are paying less, not sure how they are a Band B.  I need some advise on how to challenge the decision made by the valuation office.

thanks,

Garcon.

The only way to challenge it is via a tribunal.

For what it's worth it's not necessarily sensible the way the prices were calculated.

Mine is Band B but some of my neighbours on the row are A and the end houses are C (this is obviously because they are three-bed "foreman" terraces rather than the typical 2.)

I challenged the valuation pointing to the other houses in the row being similar which were mostly Band A and was knocked back. My neighbour informed me that they tried this years ago and took it all the way to a tribunal and were told that because ours had external toilets they were valued higher.  Yes, having to go and take a you-know-what outside rather than inside was apparently considered to be more valuable.  And no, none of these outbuildings even exist anymore.

You can only go to a tribunal if you appeal your CT band within 6 months of becoming the CT payer.


It sounds as if there may have been some misunderstanding regarding external toilets. If the tribunal's reasoning was that these houses had an external toilet in addition to the internal one, then that would make slightly more sense. 


And now for the possible good news. If the external toilets have been demolished and nothing has been built in their place, an appeal can be made on the grounds of physical change and material reduction, which does not have time limits

Jimjim78

Exodi said:

Jimjim78 said:

Comparing council tax banding isn't always as straight forward as it may seem.

You say that the house next door is identical, maybe it is now, but perhaps back in 1991 it wasn't. My first house was in a row of 7 that outwardly appeared identical when council tax valuations were carried out. Six of those houses were placed in Band B and mine was placed in Band A.

The reason being that mine had not been updated in over 30 years, no central heating, single glazed, ancient wiring etc, the other 6 had all been modernised. The value of the houses were also close to the Band A/B threshold, between £38k and £42K.

Since the 90's all have have been further updated and could be said to be identical now. However none of the work done over the years was sufficient to attract a home improvement indicator marker. All 7 houses are still in the original & correct CT Bands based on the values of 01/04/1991.

Sorry but I beg to differ - I'd imagine if a proposal to alter the list was raised, your first house would likely be brought in line. Reason it hasn't happened is that all of the neighbours are probably aware that it's unlikely their houses would be lowered to band A and the likely result would be the outlier property increasing to band B (which doesn't benefit them) - the OP in this thread is unique in their thinking that all other properties would be changed.

The process isn't as vague as you suggest - if the houses are of similar type, size and specification, they will be aligned. Council tax bands aren't constantly reviewed and are reliant on external input to influence change.

With due respect, there's a difference between opinion and fact. The band A property completed on the 26/02/1991 @ £38K, purchased on the open market. I bow to your experience and knowledge that enable you to state that the house increased in value by more than £2001 (more than 5%) in around 5 weeks.

Exodi

Jimjim78 said:

With due respect, there's a difference between opinion and fact. The band A property completed on the 26/02/1991 @ £38K, purchased on the open market. I bow to your experience and knowledge that enable you to state that the house increased in value by more than £2001 (more than 5%) in around 5 weeks.

Interesting, not only are you disingenuous, you're also a comedian.

It is nonsensical to wave around the old sale price when, as you acknowledge, the house has been updated to be identical to those held in higher bands. This is purely by virtue of no manual enquiry being made - it's not because the VOA believes your identical house is special and you should pay less council tax.

You know this. I know you know this. I don't work for the VOA, you are anonymous, there is no need to keep up the pretense.