Best way to challenge council tax band

sadinlondon

Hello there,

I have been meaning to try and challenge the council tax of our two-bedroom flat (currently band C) for some time but have been and am still unsure how best to do that. We live on an estate built in the 80s and there are some other flats similar to ours but they are mostly tax-banded C as well, except maybe a couple. The two-bedroom terraced houses opposite our flats are in the same band as us, tax band C. And the highest band after that, tax band D is for detached houses on the estate (not sure how many bedrooms). 

I believe our flats should be in band B but as explained above, I am not able to find five properties like mine in a lower tax band. So I thought I should try and find how much the properties went for or were sold in the 1990s but could not find this information online as there wasn’t data for every property. Should I knock on the doors of the other two-bed flat owners and ask if they can find proof that their properties were sold for less than the band C tax bracket in the 90s?

Any other ideas?

Thank you! 🙏

Exodi

In the first 6 months of moving into a house, you can ask the VOA to check the council tax band (as they are the ones with the all the data).

After the first 6 months, you are required to find the data and present it to them to challenge the council tax band.

They ask that you find properties that are the same type (e.g. flat), the same size (sqm should be within 10%) and similar age (usually within 10 years) within the local vicinity. It's quite hard to know what size and ages houses are (you can check the EPC register for some), hence why it's infinitely easier to challenge when you first move in as the VOA are the ones with easy access to this data!

The reason they ask for 5 is because oftentimes when they check the ones you provide, they'll find that most fall outside of the criteria (e.g. ones much smaller or older, etc). In reality, you only need one house as evidence that is comparable to yours.

It's also worth mentioning (since you said 'as explained above' but I wasn't really convinced on what you said you should be a band B ) that even if you did find a house that was similar, it's just as likely they could say "thanks, that house you identified is too low, we'll raise it."

I'd ignore the whole 1990's stuff personally and certainly don't go down the rabbit hole of quoting house price index estimates of your house value in 1990 or of current valuations (e.g. I bought my house for £150k and it's a band C but that house that is on the market for £225k is Band B, how's that fair?!?!). They will not listen.

So in summary, you need to find a list of comparables at a cheaper band than you (if you can't, they'd suggest this is evidence you are the correct band).

FWIW, even though this website might imply that everyone is getting £XXXX's in refunds from challenging their council tax, in reality I'd imagine the significant majority of bands are correct and the significant majority of challenges are unsuccessful.

sadinlondon

Thank you for this detailed reply, @Exodi

We have been in our flat for 10 years so have definitely missed the six-month period. 

I don’t think the two-bed houses will get their council tax changed to a higher one / a D as that would mean they need to change the band D houses to council tax band E too. Mind you, I suppose they could change the tax band for both the band C and D houses.

Ok, I will have a think because as I mentioned all the flats similar to ours are a C, except 1-2 flats. Could I try and apply using only those two flats as evidence?

Thank you very much! 

Exodi

sadinlondon said:

I don’t think the two-bed houses will get their council tax changed to a higher one / a D as that would mean they need to change the band D houses to council tax band E too. Mind you, I suppose they could change the tax band for both the band C and D houses.

 I think you've misunderstood what I said.

You're currently band C but you think you should be band B. You need to find a property that is similar to yours (type, size, age, local) that is a band B as evidence that yours is too high.

If you do find one, the problem I highlight is the VOA may then say "thanks for finding that property for us, you're right they are low... we'll increase them to band C too, thanks for your help" - instead of decreasing you to band B as you hope.

There's a classic example used of this:

This happened to a street in Hull, when one unidentified resident appealed as she was in band B, and all her neighbours in similar properties were in band A. But instead of her getting a Council Tax cut, all her neighbours are now facing larger bills as they were all upbanded.

Sorry, back to your question:

sadinlondon said:

Ok, I will have a think because as I mentioned all the flats similar to ours are a C, except 1-2 flats. Could I try and apply using only those two flats as evidence?

Well that's not promising but before you do anything you need to check if these two flats are comparable - it could be that they are much smaller than the others.

A way I check is by checking the EPC register as this shows the size (hopefully they have had an EPC certificate done): https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/search-by-postcode?lang=en&property_type=domestic

Alternatively check old listings for the flats.

If the two flats are 'similar size' (within 10% of yours) then worth looking into further. If they're much smaller then it sounds like you're probably in the right band.

sadinlondon

Okay, all very clear. Thank you for the points above and yes, I’d heard of the house in Hull.

So there’s no merit in comparing our flat with the terraced houses across the street which are also band C.

My point is that all the two bed flats in our street (about 6-8 flats) are incorrectly banded as C and should all be a B. It’s how I argue this point. I’d rather give it a go and get a no than not try at all.

Exodi

sadinlondon said:

Okay, all very clear. Thank you for the points above and yes, I’d heard of the house in Hull.

So there’s no merit in comparing our flat with the terraced houses across the street which are also band C.

My point is that all the two bed flats in our street (about 6-8 flats) are incorrectly banded as C and should all be a B. It’s how I argue this point. I’d rather give it a go and get a no than not try at all.

Correct, no merit comparing your flat to terraced houses. They will not consider them.

I understand your point, though I wouldn't mention this in your appeal - you can and are only appealing on your own property with evidence of a similar property at a lower band.

Yes probably worth a shot (though as I said before, check the size of the 2 flats you had in mind beforehand. If they are significantly smaller then it would save everyone time with a hopeless appeal).

Good luck.

sadinlondon

Thank you! 🙏 Really helpful to have been able to discuss this with someone who knows more about this stuff than me! 😊

lincroft1710

How do you know they are "incorrectly banded at Band C". They could have been worth £53,000 in 1991, the 2 bed terrace houses £67,500, both would be in Band C. The Band D houses could be worth £87,500. You mention 2 flats in Band B, are they on the same floor as yours, are they the same size as yours? 


Widen your geographical search parameters. See if you can find 2 bed flats in other blocks nearby of a similar age, type and size in Band B.