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Buying house with extension but no "improvement indicator" for council tax
We've recently put an offer in for a house that had an extension about 15 years ago, I have checked the local council website and have found the planning permission which was accepted. Despite this, when I check the government website the property does not show an improvement indicator but I can't see how this wouldn't constitute an improvement for council tax, as it was a two storey extension plus a loft conversion. The current sellers are the ones that had the extension done as well.
Has anyone come across this before? I'm not complaining as it means a lower council tax band but just wondering whether we need to expect a review of the band later down the line.
Thanks!
Comments
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It is not uncommon and it would be wise to anticipate a 1 or 2 band increase
If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales1 -
I have checked the local council website and have found the planning permission which was accepted
Have you checked it was all signed off by Building Control ? You need to know this for certain before spending any money on conveyancers etc.
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Having permission to extend doesn't mean the extension was actually done.
It could be that the council decided the extension wasn't sufficiently large enough to justify a band increase or it could have slipped through the net.
I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
Councils are not responsible for CT banding that falls to the VOA (part pf HMRC). The VOA wouldn't be informed the band needed to be reviewed until after a sale by the owners who carried out the extension
If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales2 -
We bought in the same situation - no improvement indicator and we’re still paying on the same band our sellers were. That said, next door has an extension a lot bigger than ours and that doesn’t have the indicator either, and is also a band C like us!
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00 at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
Balance as at 31/08/26 = £ 84,500.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
We extended our previous home under planning and building control which was signed off. There was no improvement indicator put against it. It's still in the same band nearly 7 years after we sold it. It should have been rebanded from E to F as others with similar sized extensions in the street have been.
Make £2026 in 2026
Prolific £231.51, Octopoints £4.60, Tesco Clubcard challenges £38.80, Airtime £10 TCB £225.19, Everup £77.04, Roadkill £1.77, Zopa CB £30, Misc £10.11,
Total £629.02 31%Make £2025 in 2025 Total £2241.23/£2025 110.7%
Prolific £1062.50, Octopoints £6.64, TCB £492.05, Tesco Clubcard challenges £89.90, Misc Sales £321, Airtime £70, Shopmium £53.06, Everup £106.08, Zopa CB £30, Misc survey £10
Make £2024 in 2024 Total £1410 70%Make £2023 in 2023 Total: £2606.33 128.8%0 -
We moved in 2006. The sellers had put on a big extension in 2004 with full PP and building consent. Our band should have increased, especially as neighbouring properties with smaller extensions are in the higher band. I’m keeping quiet.😉
I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
Thank you all for the information, very useful to know!
We'll double check whether it's been signed off by building control but sounds like other than that we should be okay, other than a potential increase somewhere down the line.
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