Council tax banding assessment

TerryL1425

We live in a small retirement community built in 1989 and comprising 15 houses and 4 flats. The houses are identical, 2 bedroom houses, although some have added a door and floor to the space over the stairs to make a tiny third room. 5 of the houses are semi-detached. The remainder are mid terrace houses.
I have applied the calculator advised in MSE and find that, based on latest sales price and year,  and 1991 Nationwide House 
Price  data 7 of the 15 houses (I.e just over half) fell into BAND  D. 
Yet ALL of the 15 houses have been assessed as, and pay for, BAND E. 
We are in South Oxfordshire Council District.
i would like to ask the MSE Forum
1. whether they think it is worth my asking South Oxfordshire to reassess the Banding, and
2 what the chances are of obtaining successful rebanding   from Band E to Band D.
thank you. I look forward to your comments and advice. 
Terry L

lincroft1710

It would not be worth asking South Oxfordshire council to reassess the band as councils do not deal with CT banding. That is done by the Valuation Office Agency (part of HMRC).


House price indices/calculators are generally inaccurate so the VOA would need more evidence that your band is wrong. Homes in retirement complexes are often higher priced when new but have subsequent lower resale values. See if you can find 2 bed houses of a similar type and size in the area in Band D. If the 3rd "bedroom" adaptations have been carried out by the current owners, then these cannot be reflected in the CT band.


No-one can predict what your chances of success would be. It will be down what evidence can be found to support your case and whether there is more compelling evidence to support the existing band.

Exodi

Having spent a lot of time speaking to the VOA over the years, hopefully I can share some words of wisdom.

1. If you have moved into the property in the last 6 months, you can ask the VOA to reassess your council tax band - where they will effectively check nearby properties to validate whether their original assessment was correct, very little work on your side.
2. If you have lived in the property for longer than 6 months, you can not ask them for reassessment, however you can provide details of properties which prove that your property is in the wrong band. If they agree, your band can still be changed.

Next off, from the VOA's perspective, this process is nothing to do with price, they will not consider any price data at all so don't even mention it. What they are after is a house of similar type (e.g. a 2 storey detatched house), of similar age (there are bands, but around 10 years of yours), of similar size (within 10% of the floor area of your house) which is in a lower council tax band. You only need to find one.

It is a bit of an uphill battle to find out the age or size of properties, but if you're in a retirement village, it shouldn't be as difficult. If you do find one (even if you don't know the full details), you can call them to check over the phone.

PLEASE NOTE: people seem to become fixated on the idea that their houses band must be be too high. In reality, it's just as likely that the VOA decide your house is correct, but your neighbours are too low and raise their council tax bands.

As to my opinion, I actually think the VOA is pretty competent and imagine most people realise their council tax band is actually quite reasonable at the end.

TerryL1425

thanks for your reply, and cautionary advice.
if the VOA are not interested in price, why is the advice to check back to 1991 prices and appropriate banding?
our house is in a purpose built LEASEHOLD retirement community (not a retirement village) with no facilities other than 15 houses and 4 flats. Half of the houses are in too high a Band, based on 1991 house prices.
I have checked, and this is also the case with other Leasehold retirement communities in other parts of the country.
i would like to understand:
1. What criteria were applied to new build retirement houses in 1991 to justify them being put into a higher Band than was appropriate based on 1991 prices? 
2. Does being Leasehold make a difference to banding assessment?
3. The 15 houses in our retirement community are unique and all  (bar one) have the  same design and Banding. They are all in Band E, yet based on 1991 prices most of them should have been allocated to band D. 
Is the VOA likely to say “you're In the same Band as your immediate neighbours so the Band is correct”, or should we all ask for reassessment? 
4. It is dIfficult, though  not altogether impossible to find other properties of similar size within the required radius, but these properties are individual and quite dissimilar from our retirement houses.

I would be very grateful for advice on whether it is sensible to contact the VOA with a request for reassessment, or whether I should simply accept the current Banding.

thank you in advance to anyone who can give me further advice. 

lincroft1710

Even though your home is leasehold, the VOA value all houses and bungalows as being freehold. The enabling legislation is Statutory Instrument 1992 No. 550 The Council Tax (Situations and Valuation of Dwellings) Regulations 1992 Section 6 (2) (b).


As I stated previously you cannot rely on the accuracy of house price indices or calculators. Just because they show your home should be Band D, that is no guarantee it will be. The basis of banding is the same for all dwellings, only the VOA will know how they arrived at Band E for your home and the others in the community.


The VOA may well say your band is in line with other houses and is well established. It you and your neighbours ask for a band review, it will be up to you and them to prove the bands are incorrect. It is up to you if you want to ask for a band review but if you have no evidence to suggest it is incorrect (other than the already mentioned HPI/Cs which the VOA will probably disregard) you will not get very far.

TerryL1425

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply so clearly. It is very helpful.