Council tax band change

cata

As you all know tax bands were created in 91 based on the property's prices. I belong to Band D, which was for properties valued between £68,000-88,000 in 1991. I know my property was valued at 67,000 in 95 when was built and that prices have increased steadily evr since which means that was probably valued at even less in 91. Why can't I use this value to challenge my council tax band - according to martin's savingsexpert website ?

"A second crucial step is to estimate what your home was worth in 1991, as that's when and how the council tax bands were defined.

This CAN'T be used as evidence if you challenge your band"

My question tot he hive is why can't this value be used as evidence?

THanks

Cata

p00hsticks

cata said:

I know my property was valued at 67,000 in 95 when was built and that prices have increased steadily evr since which means that was probably valued at even less in 91.

Are you sure about that ?

House prices in general fell in the 1990's, and I think values only recovered to 1991 levels towards the latter part of the decade.

So it;s perfectly likely that a property valued at £67,000 in 1995 would have been correctly valued to fall into Band D (£68,000+) for council tax purposes in 1991.

https://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/property-statistics/house-price-crash-from-the-early-90s/

cata

I looked at the land registry prices and there was a slight increase from 91 to 95. But my question was slightly different, why can't we use that value be used in the argument?

Albermarle

I had a similar issue.
I bought a house in 1996 and much later found out it was in a higher band than  similar properties in the street.
My previous house had been bought in 1991 and sold in 1996 and it gone up but later found that was against the trend at the time.
Anyway they just rejected our claim to be rebanded, and basically said you have no right to appeal. End of story.

kaMelo

It's entirely possible the home would be valued higher in 1991 than when it was built in 1995.
The early 1990's had a recession, black Wednesday, the UK crash out of the ERM and interest rates of 15%. Given that backdrop it's no surprise that many, although not all, areas saw house prices fall in the first half of the decade bottoming out around 1995 then steadily rising for the back end of the decade.

My own personal anecdote as an example,  I sold a house in July 2000 for exactly £5 more than I paid for it in August 1991

cata

I actually looked at the land registry on my area so I know the prices increased

lincroft1710

I'm ex VOA and dealt with CT appeals for 12 yrs of my career.

In the areas my office and many other offices dealt with, house prices fell dramatically from 1991 to 1995, often as high as 25%. This was well documented as the VOA has details of virtually all property sales in England and Wales and was successfully proved at Valuation Tribunal hearings. It has also been referred to in many threads on this forum


So if you ask the VOA for a reduction from Band D based on a 1995 valuation of £67,000 for your home, they will say no


Pre 1994 Land Registry prices are not in the public domain.