Council Tax Wrong Band Query - help with 1991 rule 1 April 2022 at 11:20AM in Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc 4 replies 125 views

tracy1402

Hi

Please can someone offer advice regarding the 1991 house price rule when challenging a council tax band?

Background
We discovered our house (plus one other) are Band G on our street, whilst others are Band F.   Contacted VOA who requested evidence of type of house, size and built at similar time, which we provided.  Sent photographs of four houses (from Rightmove before they were modified), clearly showing all identical to ours when built in 1980 and before any modifications/extensions were made.  Note I live on a street with 4-5 varied styles of detached houses.

Undertaken a great deal of research on MSE as well as looked on Rightmove 'sold prices', unfortunately some of the comparable houses had no sold figures listed, so we assume they may have been purchased from new build?

Having just spoke to the VOA, as i received a generic reply back again, despite my sending all info and asked why our house is in a higher band.  The advisor was very pleasant and helpful and clearly checking her system behind the scenes.  I explained I had done my research was unable provide valuation figures from 1991 for comparable houses but reconfirmed that the lower band houses were all identical to ours before any modifications were made and at the time they were built and probably in 1991.

She suggested I not take much notice of the 1991 rule as it was a old rule which Margaret Thatcher has brought it, and that the VOA undertake valuations every year and are notified via a house transaction (sale).

Basically we are being penalised by being in a higher band as our house has been sold twice since the extension/modification was made whilst the others have not.   Also, one of the garages in our house has been converted to a room, which is another reason for the higher band.  I challenged this and said how do they know if any of my neighbuors are using one of their garages (most are double) an office/room etc... she said they had a duty to notify the VOA!    She asked when we purchased the house, the name of the previous owner and whether our neighbours had undertaken the extensions, which I could not answer.

So the only way I can challenge our request is A) provide evidence that one of my neighbours houses is size comparable to our house or prove we don't have one of our garages used as a room, which we do.

So.... this leads me to the initial point...the 1991 rule does not count when challenging???  

Where do i go from here?

Can anyone advise please.

Thanks

lincroft1710

You are not being penalised because the CT band of your home had been increased due to alterations carried out by a previous owner. If you had bought any other house of the same size and type it would be the same band, or if alterations had been carried out by the previous owner the band would be increased.


The band of a dwelling is 29 years after CT was introduced, still determined by its 1991 value. If a dwelling is sold and there have been alterations, then that would be the only time the VOA would do a valuation other than for a new dwelling. There is no requirement in law for a CT payer to inform the VOA of any change to their home.


Look for similar houses to yours in other streets, you may find some in Band F. 
 

tracy1402

thank you.   All the houses are different on our street, but the main thing against us is that our neighbours have changed their houses but not sold them, whereas our house has been sold twice since the alterations, with one of our garages being used as a room, which I feel is the reason for the increased band.  Our neighbours have two garages but one or two have conservatory extension at the back - we don't - which is the frustrating thing.

I can only see that we are in a higher band as our VOA have registered the change in alteration, whereas the others are under the radar.

Caz3121

tracy1402 said:
All the houses are different on our street, but the main thing against us is that our neighbours have changed their houses but not sold them, whereas our house has been sold twice since the alterations,

I can only see that we are in a higher band as our VOA have registered the change in alteration, whereas the others are under the radar.

for the other properties that have been changed but not sold, it will be the next owners that will get the increased band
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/council-tax-band-changes
A property that’s increased in size may move to a higher band when it’s next purchased.

You could extend your property to make it the equivalent of a H band but would remain on G whilst you own it, if sold, the next owners would be billed for H

Slinky

That's how the council tax system works. If you make improvements to your home, the band stays the same until the house changes hands, when the CT may be increased for the new owner.

(Doesn't always happen - we extended our previous house, done with planning permission and building control signoff - but for whatever reason the council missed putting an improvement indicator on the property. We sold it nearly 3 years ago and the new owners are still in the same band as we were, despite having made more changes than other properties in the street which have been rebanded since they were sold.)