Council Tax Appeals can I appeal a second time ?

Leodogger

We are living in a 2 bedroomed bungalow and we are in Council Tax Band C, two for sale around the corner have 3 bedrooms and I found out they are in Council Tax Band B !!    We appealed our tax band when we first moved in some 10 yrs ago because we thought even then that we were in the wrong tax band but the appeal was refused and I read somewhere that we couldn't appeal again but we didn't have these examples to quote on the first appeal.

Is there any chance we can appeal to some other Ombudsman about this ?

lincroft1710

All you can do is ask the VOA to review the band again in light of the evidence you are presenting. The size of the property is more important than the number of bedrooms as is type, a detached is more valuable than a semi. Two other points, if these bungalows have been extended by their current owners then their bands may need to be reviewed and this always the possibility that their bands have always been wrong.  

Leodogger

lincroft1710 said:

All you can do is ask the VOA to review the band again in light of the evidence you are presenting. The size of the property is more important than the number of bedrooms as is type, a detached is more valuable than a semi. Two other points, if these bungalows have been extended by their current owners then their bands may need to be reviewed and this always the possibility that their bands have always been wrong.  

They have both been extended and one has a conservatory as well as an extension !   They both are semis like ours but theirs have always had garages whereas our bungalow did not have a garage when we moved here and they also have bigger frontages too.   Square footage wise they look about half again as big as ours, both their lounges and their kitchens are at least 5ft longer than ours in both cases !!   I checked roughly what they were worth in 1991 when they were banded and they sold for more than ours then too.   They sold for £60,000 then as they are on the market now and I compared the value against what they are worth now and then in 1991, ours sold for approx £52,000, but when you consider they had one extra bedroom anyway that is not surprising.

p00hsticks

Leodogger said:

lincroft1710 said:

All you can do is ask the VOA to review the band again in light of the evidence you are presenting. The size of the property is more important than the number of bedrooms as is type, a detached is more valuable than a semi. Two other points, if these bungalows have been extended by their current owners then their bands may need to be reviewed and this always the possibility that their bands have always been wrong.  

 They sold for £60,000 then as they are on the market now and I compared the value against what they are worth now and then in 1991, ours sold for approx £52,000, but when you consider they had one extra bedroom anyway that is not surprising.

You can view the original price ranges for bands here
How domestic properties are assessed for Council Tax bands - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
It sounds like yours was right on the cusp of Bands B and C, so it's more likely that the neighbouring properties are in too low a band than that yours is in too high a one.....

lincroft1710

I agree with @p00hsticks, it seems the 3 beds are underbanded.


If you have worked out the 1991 valuations using house price indices (no matter which source), the VOA will not accept such valuations. 

Leodogger

lincroft1710 said:

I agree with @p00hsticks, it seems the 3 beds are underbanded.


If you have worked out the 1991 valuations using house price indices (no matter which source), the VOA will not accept such valuations. 

So how are you supposed to find out whether your house has been banded wrong if you can't find the house price in 1991 that the VOA will accept ?

Leodogger

p00hsticks said:

Leodogger said:

lincroft1710 said:

All you can do is ask the VOA to review the band again in light of the evidence you are presenting. The size of the property is more important than the number of bedrooms as is type, a detached is more valuable than a semi. Two other points, if these bungalows have been extended by their current owners then their bands may need to be reviewed and this always the possibility that their bands have always been wrong.  

 They sold for £60,000 then as they are on the market now and I compared the value against what they are worth now and then in 1991, ours sold for approx £52,000, but when you consider they had one extra bedroom anyway that is not surprising.

You can view the original price ranges for bands here
How domestic properties are assessed for Council Tax bands - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
It sounds like yours was right on the cusp of Bands B and C, so it's more likely that the neighbouring properties are in too low a band than that yours is in too high a one.....

I already checked the Gov.uk website for tax bands.   As you say we are right on the cusp of Bands B and C but I do think the others round the corner are under banded definitely.   Yet I don't see how I can appeal again when they rejected my first attempt and I am sure I read somewhere that you can't appeal a second time.

Sarahspangles

Leodogger said:

We are living in a 2 bedroomed bungalow and we are in Council Tax Band C, two for sale around the corner have 3 bedrooms and I found out they are in Council Tax Band B !!    We appealed our tax band when we first moved in some 10 yrs ago because we thought even then that we were in the wrong tax band but the appeal was refused and I read somewhere that we couldn't appeal again but we didn't have these examples to quote on the first appeal.

Is there any chance we can appeal to some other Ombudsman about this ?

Is this the first time the houses you are comparing with have been sold, since they were improved? If so they will have an ‘improvement marker’ but their valuation for CT won’t go up until the new owners move in.

https://valuationoffice.blog.gov.uk/2023/07/13/how-home-improvements-affect-your-council-tax-band/

lincroft1710

Leodogger said:

lincroft1710 said:

I agree with @p00hsticks, it seems the 3 beds are underbanded.


If you have worked out the 1991 valuations using house price indices (no matter which source), the VOA will not accept such valuations. 

So how are you supposed to find out whether your house has been banded wrong if you can't find the house price in 1991 that the VOA will accept ?

House price indices may give a rough indication of 1991 values. As bands are now very well established, failing actual 1991 sale prices, the best way to check if your band is possibly incorrect is what you have done and find larger properties (or even similar size ones) in a lower band. But there is always a possibility as has been said that those properties are underbanded.


One important aspect you haven't mentioned is exactly why your original appeal was rejected

Leodogger

lincroft1710 said:

Leodogger said:

lincroft1710 said:

I agree with @p00hsticks, it seems the 3 beds are underbanded.


If you have worked out the 1991 valuations using house price indices (no matter which source), the VOA will not accept such valuations. 

So how are you supposed to find out whether your house has been banded wrong if you can't find the house price in 1991 that the VOA will accept ?

House price indices may give a rough indication of 1991 values. As bands are now very well established, failing actual 1991 sale prices, the best way to check if your band is possibly incorrect is what you have done and find larger properties (or even similar size ones) in a lower band. But there is always a possibility as has been said that those properties are underbanded.


One important aspect you haven't mentioned is exactly why your original appeal was rejected

They don't actually give a reason for rejecting your appeal from what I can remember, just that they have taken all the local facts into account and come to the conclusion that it is in the correct band!🙄