Are you a Welsh MoneySaver fed up with your new council tax band?

MSE_Jenny

Martin is doing a special Tonight with Trevor McDonald show on Council Tax Reclaiming and is looking for people to appear on the show. They would like to speak to someone from Wales, who ended up paying more council tax after the government reassessed Welsh council tax bands in 2004.

So if you’re aggrieved that your property was put in a higher band and would like to talk about this, please PM (private message) me with your name, tel number, and how much you got back.

Thanks very much!

adr0ck

i'm from wales and fed up with my council tax band

however think my situation is slightly different

when we moved into our property, a valuation officer popped round after a few months saying that there had been complaints from some of our neighbours saying that we were paying too little council tax

upshot is that they rebranded us so we now pay more (moved us up one band)

the thing i find annoying is we are now on a higher band than our next door neighbour and neighbour opposite us yet all houses are the same size originally and all have been extended a small bit (neighbour opposite by a lot)

the reason given is that my neighbours have lived in their houses since they were built and have extended them themselves, we bought a house that had been extended and therefore our house is rebranded and theres wont be until they sell their homes and then the new owners move in

i do not understand how this is supposed to be fair

surely it should simply be on the size of the home now

PasturesNew

Mine's an A. So no. Happy as Larry.

I think the injustice is in the fact that this tax isn't paid by the people using the service but based on house bands. I could be living alone in a house, next door to a very very large family, say mum/dad, twins at school, 2 daughters and bfs living there - so 6 adults.

My house value could be at the bottom of the band, theirs at the top - and they could have extended theirs a few times over the years too.

If the bills were £1000/property I'd be paying £750 per person. Yet they would be paying 1000/6, or £166 each even though they're using the same local services per person that I am plus using the school and social services.

Council tax is a tax on the single.

adr0ck

i'm sorry pasturesnew ......your comment on their using schools etc really bugs me

didn't you go to school?

PasturesNew

adr0ck wrote: »

i'm sorry pasturesnew ......your comment on their using schools etc really bugs me

didn't you go to school?

Yes and my parents paid.
And schools were different back then.

And you've missed the point really. All I am saying is: why should I pay more to use the same/less stuff than others.

You just picked up on one bit because of my poor communication skills (I have Aspergers)

adr0ck

when i was in school i don't recall my parents paying anymore council tax or whatever it was called back then because i went to school and i fail to see why it should be different for me now i have kids

adr0ck

by the way my neighbours (same sized house - on lower council tax band)

have 4 adults compared to our two (but we have a 3 yr old and a 2 yr old)

and we had to pay a mortgage for our house which would be about 8 times what they would have paid when they bought theirs

Jorgan_2

adr0ck wrote: »

when we moved into our property, a valuation officer popped round after a few months saying that there had been complaints from some of our neighbours saying that we were paying too little council tax

What a nice welcome gift from your neighbours. Not.

I managed to get mine reduced a band, I can't remember by how many pounds were involved. I queried the valuation on the property, knowing what the original purchase price was and the current value. They argued my figures were wrong, I provided them with comparable evidence, I won.

teeni

mine went down a band so we were very happy

Gorgeous_George

adr0ck wrote: »

the reason given is that my neighbours have lived in their houses since they were built and have extended them themselves, we bought a house that had been extended and therefore our house is rebranded and theres wont be until they sell their homes and then the new owners move in

It may not seem fair but it is how it works in England as well. If you extend the house, it is only reassessed for Council Tax when it changes hands.

GG

adr0ck

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

It may not seem fair but it is how it works in England as well. If you extend the house, it is only reassessed for Council Tax when it changes hands.

GG

agreed but surely my neighbours houses should have been reassesed in 2004 upwards

otherwise what was the point of the whole exercise