Council tax - property area?

powerbarge

Hi all

We moved into a new build last year and i've challenged the council tax band as I feel it's higher than it should be

I found properties of the same number of bedrooms and type in an earlier phase of the development banded lower than ours and sent these as evidence

The re-band was rejected on the basis that the quoted properties were smaller.

However, i've been told by the valuation office that the size of our property is 152m2 whereas on our mortgage valuation it's listed as 135m2

Does anyone know how this is calculated? How is it possible these two figures are so different?

Thanks in advance

powerbarge

I have measured the external walls of the property, multiplied by 2 (for a 2 storey house), I get 136m2. 

I have a single detached garage which is approx 18m2, which brings the calculation up to 154m2 - I wonder if they've included the garage in the valuation - surely this is in error? 

lincroft1710

It is possible, but unlikely. More probable is one of you has mis-measured or being on a new estate, they have the house type wrong. They only way forward is to contact the VOA and compare measurements

powerbarge

Thanks - I have queried the calculation with the VOA and they have informed me the garage should not be included, so I will appeal on that basis.

lincroft1710

powerbarge said:

Thanks - I have queried the calculation with the VOA and they have informed me the garage should not be included, so I will appeal on that basis.

When they say the garage should not be included, were they stating policy or admitting they had included it when calculating the area of your home?

powerbarge

To close the loop on this one - the end result was the VOA, upon appeal but prior to the hearing, agreed with me that my property area was recorded wrongly and reduced band as a result - a nice bit of a good news!