Challenging Council Tax Band Solely On Price?

BeagleandBoy

Hi everyone,

Apologies if this is in the wrong area of the form I’m really new.

I’ve read Martin’s article on challenging your council tax band. But I wanted to get some clarification if anyone can help.

I live on an estate in Yorkshire that was built around 2005. The estate has a few different house types, all builds identical to mine a council tax F.

As I understand it council tax F, means your house was worth at least 120 K in 1991. However this house originally sold in 2005 for 125K. I’ve tried to find comparables from my area but as far back as I can go is 1995 (land registry and rightmove)

I would expect in 14 years the house would’ve gone up by more than 6K, so to me I should be in band E. Although I appreciate this isnt gospel, the Nationwide calculator also believes my property would be E

Martin’s article states only challenges if you believe the valuation is wrong and your neighbours are in a different band, does this mean if we’re all in F band, it can’t be challenged / there is no point, even if the price is woefully wrong?

I was also hoping to see if anyone could have any advice on where to find pre-1995 comparables?

To be honest, I think the system is a complete joke, but that is another matter.

Thanks in advance!

p00hsticks

I donlt know if it helps, but the 1995 price would probably have been lower that the 1991 one - as I recall there was a considerable housing price slump through the 1990s and prices didn't really recover until towards the end of the decade.

lincroft1710

Pre 1995 house prices are not in the public domain and NW estimates will not be accepted by the VOA.. The other thing that occurs to me is that as these houses were built 20 years ago, it would be unusual that someone else hasn't picked up on this and challenged the band

A 2005 price of £125,000 does seem to suggest a 1991 price below £120,000, but some areas took longer than others to recover from the mid 1990s house price slump. What prices can you find of your house type as it may be possible to calculate possible 1991values?

I would suggest you look at CT bands of other similar houses on your estate and those of a similar size and type built from the 1980s onwards on other estates in the area

BeagleandBoy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81929729#Comment_81929729

I’m struggling to find any relevant comparables, my whole estate was built around 2005. The next nearest bunch of houses to me are mainly bungalows. We’re in a 4 bed, where most houses in my ex mining town are 3

I’ve tried to compare around me, all similar builds are band F and the slightly smaller houses are E, with the bungalows ranging B-C

Is it pointless to challenge if my bands are consistent with those around me even if the band seems wrong for this house type?

Secondly if I’m unable to get 1991 sale prices, how are you supposed to challenge the valuation?

Thanks in advance

lincroft1710

People have been successfully challenging CT bands for over 30 years without access to 1991 prices. But when I was in the VOA (which is now 20 years ago), the onus was on the VOA to prove the band correct, rather than the CT payer proving the band incorrect

Try widening your search to nearby towns/villages. Also what is the most recent sale price for a Band F on your estate? Can you find original and recent sale prices of any of the Band E houses?