Council Tax Banding Appeal

Jacquelyn6229

My home has been rebanded from C to E!
There appear to be 2 reasons for this
1. I bought it for £100K in 1991 (the year that is used to set bands)
2. The VOA hold incorrect information about the size of my house and therefore do not accept my selected comparision properties - including the identical semi next door!
My appeal (where I identified similar properties banded lower than me) has been turned down and the VOA say "There was an actual sale in 1991, which shows the property would have achieved a value in excess of £88,000 at April 1991, supporting band E" and they are satisfied that the information they have about the size of the house "is correct".
I have 2 Questions -
-Can I insist that the VOA come and measure my house because it is much smaller than they say?
-Does the house sale price in 1991 override all other evidence? - in which case there would be no point in arguing with the VOA about the incorrect info they have recorded.
Would appreciate the thoughts of anyone with similar experiences

lincroft1710

A sale at £100K in 1991 slams your house into Band E, it is over 13% above the Band E minimum! A 1991 sale is the best evidence going. You can ask them to remeasure (and remember VOA use external not internal  measurements to calculate the sizeof a dwelling) but there is really little point.


Just think of all the money you've saved over the past 29 years!!

Jacquelyn6229

I am struggling to understand why the identical semi next door and the much larger semis nearby which are valued the same or higher than me are still banded at C!
Is there any point in appealing on this basis (and using these as comparison properties) or does the 1991 sale over ride this?

lincroft1710

Ask the VOA, chances are they will also increase the bands of the neighbouring houses. I can only reiterate what I previously said about your sale price. I'm ex VOA and have successfully defended Band E dwellings with 1991 sales at £90,000.