Council Tax - Challenging new valuation (what does similar "type" mean?)

rokx

We have recently built a new house, to replace a house that was structurally unsound.

The new property has one additional bedroom and our council tax has risen from band C to F.  We are looking into putting in an appeal proposal.

Our property is a rural property and we have approx 3 acres of land.  When they ask for you to look at similar types of property in the immediate area, is size of house & within 15 miles or so enough for this?  Do we need to take into consideration the size of the plot too, which adds to the value of the house? Or is it just the house, as if the land was not included? And can we only use other rural properties (there aren't many nearby) or are properties in the neighbouring villages/towns ok?  

Thank you.

lincroft1710

Use whatever you can find to back up your case. But keep it to modern (say no older than 1970s) houses. 15 miles seems a large radius unless you live in a very sparsely populated area. Don't focus too much on the band of your previous house, it will be a poor comparable. Let the VOA decide what to reject, they will quickly say if they don't agree with one of your choices.


Of course if everything you find is Band F or higher, then you will know your band is probably correct.

rokx

That's really helpful, thank you! 

rokx

Just a follow up question - I'm filling in the form, which says to list outbuildings. We have stables and some wooden structures (on our land but not attached to the house).  Should I only be searching for other properties which also have these?

lincroft1710

You will severely limit your choice if you search only for properties with stables! No need to do this.


In some rural areas I dealt with (I'm ex VOA) it was sometimes very difficult to find comparables even when I had the advantages of being able to access all property details and sales.

rokx

Thank you!  I'm definitely finding it a challenge being in a rural area.  The guidelines say "in the same village - if you live in the countryside" but we're not in a village (nearest house is half a mile away!) and I can't find the actual size of the houses I'm using as comparables, as they haven't sold in years, so it is a bit of guess work at the moment.  I think I will just go with what I can find and hope for the best