Property valuation for council tax

LesliesD1

I have recently downsized to a one-off new build house. There are no others identical and few new build houses in the area but I have challenged my council tax banding as the most similar nearby house is in a lower band. VOA have rejected my proposal and I now want to prepare a case for a tribunal. How do they calculate the value of a house which did not exist in 1991?

lincroft1710

Only the VOA will know the answer to that one.


I'm (long time) ex VOA and I used to use bands of nearby existing similar property as a basis, especially if there had been a settled appeal or a correlation of recent prices. 

LesliesD1

Thanks for your reply lincroft. As you have direct experience of the VOA’s methodology, could I ask you a few more questions. In my case, there are very few comparable houses and none identical. The VOA dismissed one house I cited because it is not detached like mine, though it’s the most similar in many other ways and is the closest to mine in distance. It seems the detached/semi detached criteria trumps all others. Is that the case in your experience?  If I can show that that house is comparable, is one example in a lower band enough to prove my case?  

There is another house with some similarities further down the street in the same Band as mine, which VOA say is smaller than mine, though the estate agent’s details show it to be bigger - and I understand estate agents measure internal dimensions while VOA measure external dimensions, which one would therefore expect to be greater. In your experience, how reliable are VOA’s measurements of house areas?  

Thanks for your help. 

lincroft1710

As you have a detached house, then you must use detached houses of a similar age and size as evidence. A semi detached house would not be considered comparable. I don't know if this is still the case but in my day the VOA would usually have as an absolute minimum, 4 properties to support their case.


VOA measurements are around 99% accurate, but even if this other house is larger it won't help your case. There is no harm in you looking slightly further afield, in small communities there could be a dearth of suitable evidence  




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LesliesD1

Thanks again Lincroft. Sorry to go on about this but it could cost me a lot over future years to be in the wrong band so a bit more info would be useful.  If there are no other houses that are directly comparable on ALL the criteria VOA have said they use to estimate value (location, size, layout, age, character, detached/semi detached etc) then do VOA have a hierarchy of criteria?  Do they consider some criteria more significant than others in reaching a decision about valuation?  You suggested looking at houses further afield for comparisons, but then these would not be in a comparable location. 

lincroft1710

The main criteria are type of dwelling (eg. house or flat, detached or terraced), location, size and age. So if you had a 1960s 100 sq m detached house in Walford, you would look for similar in Walford. But if you could find similar 1960s 100 sq m semis in the same band, it would prove a good "anchor" for your detached. If nothing available, you may try Weatherfield or Holby, if they were near and in a similar price range.

LesliesD1

Thanks. That’s helpful.