Council tax bands

[Deleted User]

Just looking for some (more) advise.

My house was extended by, not the previous owners, but the one before them (20+ years ago!) and the council tax band has been raised from a band C to a band E. My house is a individually designed house. In fact most houses in my small rural village are individual.

I believe the new band is too high and think it should be a band D. The HPI puts it right in the middle of a band D.

The VO have rejected my claim and have use two properties, (built around the same time as mine) in my village to compare. One is 40sqm larger than mine, but sits on a similar size plot, the other is similar is size, but could fit my plot in at least, 10 times!  (I've read that garden is not taken into account, but this is a sizeable  (acre +) piece of land and certainly would have impacted in the 1991 price.)

Do they sound like reasonable comparisons?  I've found properties in my village of approx the same sqm, but older than mine in bands C and D. 

With less than 200 houses in my village, most built before the 1900s, (mine is late 1970s) to find properties based on size, age and style is very challenging. My next nearest village is even smaller and over 2 miles away. I know I can search upto 10 miles, but based on my rural location, this only reaches the outskirts of the nearest a town.

Can I use an older house as evidence?

MovingForwards

Copy thread in the right section, with replies:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6343799/council-tax-band#latest

bobfromlondon

I did something like this, although the VO agreed with me and I got a refund. So I cannot speak to the valuation appeal. 

I kept my report short. A total of one and a A4 sides for text and plan, plus one side for photos. I broke the report into background/history, rationale for change, summary of similar houses and suggested new band. 

Each section was kept to a paragraph. 

As respects finding similar houses - we are also rural and used houses several miles away and listed them on a table. We used three examples and chose them by comparison to with the online council database. 

One thing I emphasise. Do not communicate directly with the local authority.  I had calls from the council 'valuation officer' (a title reserved for the Valuation Agency) who was really a revenue officer charged with getting as much money as possible. 

If your house has disability adjustment make sure it is in your plan. Ramps and disabled access toilet or shower come to mind.