Council Tax Band Review

Rountfelley

We challenged our Council Tax banding as we purchased our house in 1991 for £ 47500 which according to the table puts us in Band B. We are in Band C. Neighbour in identical house albeit with an extension is Band B 
Sent all purchase evidence to VOA and received this response 

What is our next step ?

I have checked your property and I can confirm it is in the right council tax band –

Band

C

.

Please let me explain why this is right for your property and why similar properties nearby

may be in different bands.

I considered the following when reviewing the banding of your property.

How council tax bands are determined

All council tax bands are based on

the price the property would have sold for on the open

market on 1 April 1991 in England and 1 April 2003 in Wales. That value is determined by a

number of factors, including:

•

size

•

layout

•

character

•

location

Local councils will tell us about changes to properties, such as extensions, which might affect

a property’s value. However, legally we can’t change a property’s council tax band to reflect

those changes until the property is sold.

Council tax bands ar

e not based on the

current housing market, so they do not change as the

value of a property increases or decreases.

Your banding is based on evidence of actual sales of similar properties at or around 1 April

1991

and not just on the sale of an individual property

. I have reviewed this evidence and

have also

taken into consideration

the bandings of other properties in the area, which have

either been agreed with the taxpayer, determined by an independent valuation

tribunal or

established for a number of years.

Property values have changed since the banding came

into effect but any increase or decrease in a property’s value caused by general fluctuations

in the housing market cannot be taken into account for counci

l tax purposes.

Similar properties in lower band than yours

You referred to similar properties that are in lower bands. There are several reasons why

apparently similar properties could have lower bandings.

OFFICIAL

​

•

They may have been extended to a similar size to your own property but have

not subsequently sold. A banding cannot be increased to reflect improvements

before there has been a sale.

•

Very similar properties can correctly fall into different bands due to t

he range

of values attributed to Council Tax bands. Sometimes a small difference in area

can result in a property moving into either a higher or lower Council Tax Band.

•

They may have been lowered following an Appeal. But when this happens, I

also consider

whether this means that other properties in the area should have

their banding lowered too.

•

Properties may be in a lower band as a result of an error, but this is rare.

I’ve looked carefully at the pattern of bandings in the area and the evidence of sales that took

place around April 1991. Based on this, I can confirm that you’re in the right band. I will now

consider whether the bandings of any other properties in the area need to be increased.

Lower neighbouring property

You referred to the banding of a neighbouring property that appears low. I am not aware that

any changes have been made to this property that might lead to a higher council tax band.

But I will review this banding to see whether it should be changed.

I am unable

to write to you about the outcome of a review of another property, but you can

check whether a change has been made at any time by going to GOV.UK and searching

‘Check your Council Tax band’, clicking ‘start now’ and inputting the post code of the relevant

property you wish to check.

Please be assured your home is in the right council tax band.

lincroft1710

Why did you not challenge your band when CT was first introduced back in 1993?


Having read the VOA response, it seems that there have been other sales of similar properties in excess of £52,000 and the VOA believe your purchase price was not usual for the house type and may have reflected poor repair or a need for modernisation. Was this the case? 


I cannot see there is anything you could do to persuade the VOA to change their mind. I sometimes suggest CT payers write to their MP but I doubt on this occasion whether it would achieve anything.

p00hsticks

WhyRountfelley said:

We challenged our Council Tax banding as we purchased our house in 1991 for £ 47500 which according to the table puts us in Band B. 

Just out of interest is there any reason why you didn't challenge it at the time ? (I recall that there was a lot if publicity when Council tax was first introduced in 1993 about how to challenge your band, and I did successfully with both the porety I moved from and to around that time). Do you have still have any evidence of the purchase price you paid in 1991, and did that form part of your appeal ?

Rountfelley

TBH we knew nothing about challenging at the time and a recent MSE item on TV triggered our claim
We have evidence including estate agent flier which went to VOA
Not in poor repair or need of modernisation
Thank you for responses

lincroft1710

I'm ex VOA and when it was announced that CT was coming into force, it was also announced that bands could be appealed. The VOA received more than 1,000,000 appeals within 8 months of CT introduction, so was well publicised.

What do you mean by "EA flier"? The sale particulars for your home?

Rountfelley

Yes estate agent - we were young and naive

Yorkie4404

I'm starting this process and the more I read and the more I look at the form filling - doesn't make me hopeful.

In fact Douglas Adams prose about the council plans for a bypass comes to mind.

We bought our house in 1988 - under £50k and it should be in band B - we're in D - I assume we didn't get the memo and it was decided back then by the council counting bedrooms - 3.

Around us are slightly bigger or extended 4 bed properties in band E and I suspect they are also in too high a band so it's hard to pass Martins 1st test.

Then I started to fill in the form - good grief it's page after page after page...

I understand they need to be thorough - any benefits etc.

Then they want to know what bank accounts we have, or savings or ISAs and they want account names and account numbers and how much is in there! They even want to know how many premium bonds my wife has!

Will the gold plated Rolls Royce count?

We are not rich and I'm not putting full financial details into some website I never head of - my bank would have my guts for garters.

Is council tax now means tested?

Anyhow who is victoriaforms.com and why am I entering all this info into it?

Seems more like it's designed to put as many people off as possible - falls over in surprise.

...and if you do make it through seems like you have little chance.

But dropping from D to B would save us £500 a year...

I wish you all well and I'll let you know if I live long enough to fill this form in.

Thanks to Martin too - for all the work he puts into this, the new app is a cracker also!

lincroft1710

Yorkie4404 said:

I'm starting this process and the more I read and the more I look at the form filling - doesn't make me hopeful.

In fact Douglas Adams prose about the council plans for a bypass comes to mind.

We bought our house in 1988 - under £50k and it should be in band B - we're in D - I assume we didn't get the memo and it was decided back then by the council counting bedrooms - 3.

Around us are slightly bigger or extended 4 bed properties in band E and I suspect they are also in too high a band so it's hard to pass Martins 1st test.

Then I started to fill in the form - good grief it's page after page after page...

I understand they need to be thorough - any benefits etc.

Then they want to know what bank accounts we have, or savings or ISAs and they want account names and account numbers and how much is in there! They even want to know how many premium bonds my wife has!

Will the gold plated Rolls Royce count?

We are not rich and I'm not putting full financial details into some website I never head of - my bank would have my guts for garters.

Is council tax now means tested?

Anyhow who is victoriaforms.com and why am I entering all this info into it?

Seems more like it's designed to put as many people off as possible - falls over in surprise.

...and if you do make it through seems like you have little chance.

But dropping from D to B would save us £500 a year...

I wish you all well and I'll let you know if I live long enough to fill this form in.

Thanks to Martin too - for all the work he puts into this, the new app is a cracker also!

I don't know what form you're filling in, but I think it may be to do with Council Tax Reduction, which is about paying less CT because of your financial circumstances. 

CT banding is dealt with by the Valuation Office Agency (part of HMRC) not the council. You are about 31 years too late to appeal your CT band but you can ask the VOA for a band review. however you will have to provide evidence to support your request

Yorkie4404

Thanks lincroft1710 it's quite possible I ended up following the wrong link.

As for 31 years late - I don't remember anything relating from that time but it was a hectic period.

I'll backtrack and try the VOA route - appreciate your swift response and catching my dumb !!!!!! mistake!

Cheers

lincroft1710

If you were living in a property as at 1 April 1993 (when CT came into being) and wished to appeal its band, your appeal had to have been received by the relevant VOA office no later than 30 November 1993, otherwise it would not have been considered valid

pmckie

I have been examining Martin’s information on claiming back Council Tax. I failed Q1, in that my neighbours are all on the same band as us. However.....my question is:

Although identical properties to my own are all graded the same - Council Tax Band ‘D’, when we compare the current valuation price - £210,000  ( as one sold for £200K and one for £212K in summer of 2024), that then translates into a 1991 valuation of £54,277, ie: (Council Tax Band C).

Does this imply that ALL of our houses are in the wrong band, so do we ALL have a case for this to be lowered based on the 1991 Data?   Thanks, Paul