Council Tax Band Double Increase++

geepee100

Received a letter from the VOA in early October saying that as modifications have been made to the property before we move in (2000/2000) then they may be looking at council tax re-banding for the property, but would reach out if they need to any assistance from us.

We did not receive any communication subsequent to this. They did not contact us nor did they communicate any change in banding.

We have subsequently received a letter from our local council informing us of our new payments. It has gone up 2 whole bands which is a massive increase (F to H)

We live on a street where the properties are nearly all different apart from our adjacent property (so is hard to do the 5 properties test). None of our neighbours have a banding as high as us.

Any advice on the VOA appeal would be welcome. Are there any other routes of appeal if they do not change their mind? Thanks!

lincroft1710

The VOA should have sent an official notice of a band increase. You would have 6 months from the date of the notice in which to appeal it. Check your band online and if it has been increased, contact the VOA and say you did not receive a notice and need a copy. 


If you make an appeal and cannot agree an outcome with the VOA, you have the right to present your case before the independent Valuation Tribunal.


Although it is a long time since I worked in VOA and procedures have changed, it would have been unusual to increase to a Band H without an inspection unless the CT payer was uncooperative. One final point - how much did you pay for your home as in many areas a Band H would suggest £1,000,000 plus.

geepee100

Thanks @lincroft1710 for the info, really helpful. The property was purchased £870k in 2019.

lincroft1710

geepee100 said:

Thanks @lincroft1710 for the info, really helpful. The property was purchased £870k in 2019.

Which would suggest a net maximum house price rise of only 2.67 times from 1991 to 2019

geepee100

@lincroft1710 Could you please explain how you got this figure, what it represent and what it implies (in relation to the issue)?

Thanks for your support with this.

lincroft1710

For a house to be in Band H, has to have value in excess of £320,000 as at 1 Apr 1991. Practical minimum of a Band H would be £325,000, so divide that into £870,000 gives 2.67. So if house prices in your area in 2019 were more than 2.67 times higher than 1991 (my area was around 4 times!) it suggests Band H is too high.