Council Tax. Are You Paying More Than Your Neighbours? Check It Out

xanderd

britters wrote:

I just got on to the web site recommended and ran a search on my place, and it couldn't be found. In fact there were no results at all for my location. What does this mean?

check with roayl mail that the town you think you live in is the same name as the postal town!

For example everyone calls my town eastcote, but the royal mail classify it as ruislip, so on the voa web site only ruislip will work!

stuandand

Hi

If you are single and have a 2nd adult living with you(not your partner) who is on a low income you may also be entitled to a reduction in your Council Tax.

Read on

Taken from Swansea Council website:



Second Adult Rebate


You can claim Second Adult Rebate if you are a Single Person but there are other people living with you who are on a low income.


The other people could be relatives or friends over 18, but not a partner*, boarder or tenant (*you can still be classed as a single person if your partner is disregarded for Council Tax, such as a Carer)


We use their income instead of yours

We take their gross income and if you have more than one second adult we add their incomes together.




· 25% off your bill if the second adult is on Income Support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance or Guaranteed Pension Credit.

· 15% off your bill if the second adult has a weekly income up to £157.00

· 7.5% off your bill if the second adult has a weekly income from £157.00 to £203.99.



Hope this helps

Andrea

frugglewump

stanzelsa wrote:

:mad: 8 years ago I moved into my terraced house

Snip

I cant appeal now because it is so long since I moved in and it makes me want to cry

Appeal anyway. If you read the earlier posts people have been successful in appealing despite the 6 month rule.

halloweenqueen_2

I've lived there for years and just found out both my neighbours are in a lower band, I'm livid - I've fired off an appeal, if theres a six month rule I'm going to challenge it as when do you ever ask neighbours you don't really have anything to do with their council tax payments?

clifton2

Slightly off topic but relevant. About a year after I moved in to my latest property the VOA attempted to arrange to come to my house to revalue it.

This was because the previous owner had put in a loft extension.

I argued fiercly with this and just said I would appeal straight away making the statement I would be objecting and taking it to court.

After much arguing of which I did most raising points such as.

1. Please supply data on how prices were calculated in 1991
2. How much were building materials in 1991
3. How much value does a loft extension carry etc
4. If I remove the staircase can we discount the loft

the conversation suddenly came around to the plans for the loft extension......... you will love this, remember when rates were replaced by THE POLL TAX ??? well guess what, the VOA (or whoever it was then) did not need to keep copies of plans anymore as tax was on people in a property. So it meant they had no idea of when my loft extension was actually constructed, so I said well it was prior to the banding and they accepted that as they could not prove otherwise !!!!!

Just thought I would share that and if the VOA ever try to revalue you give it hard to them.........

madshopper_2

Hi, bought a new build 4 bed semi in 2004 and when we got our Council Tax valuation through, we thought the banding (F)was one higher than it should be (E). Got together with our neighbour (the other semi we are attached to) and both put in an appeal. Got knocked back at first, then told it would have to go to a valuation panel and asked for more evidence of why we thought it was overbanded. A valuation officer came out and measured all round the outside of the house (to get total square footage of the building, not just room sizes) In our application, we made several points - restricted height in 2 rooms limited floor space on top floor (3 storey town house with eaves in some bedrooms), they noted that, we then gave them information which we had gleaned from the Nationwide BS (I think it was Nationwide?) property calculator which will based on the value now, tell you what the properties in your region were worth in April 1991 - the time of the last valuation. This put us firmly within a valuation of Band E (under £120k back then), we then gave them some info from the property ads from Jan-April 1991 which were selling 4/5 bed detached at £110k back then. Got that from the local records office, only took an hour to research. After the meeting, the Valuation Officer agreed the reduction to band E for the 2 properties and we saved ourselves £30 per month on our bill.

amosworks

asandwhen wrote:

I have just heard back from the council -they are lowering my band from a d to a C - they said they will back date to 1993 - shame ive only been here since march - how will they get hold of the previous owners/tennents to refund there overpayment?

You take the money on their behalf and promise to put it in their Christmas card this year

gb39

The original tip was excellent, but some of the replies show the problems of understanding some of the complications.

Some replies have referred to getting valuation changes from their Council. In fact, the Council just sends out the bills. It is the Valuation Office Agency which has the job of producing and maintaining the banding lists which include all domestic property.

The VOA operates within rules set by the Government. It was John Prescott's old department which decided to "postpone" the long-overdue revaluation of domestic properties.

The VOA deserves some sympathy as it has to sort out the problem of trying to assess what properties would have been worth in 1991, had they existed in their present state at that time. But the position is that all properties are valued on that basis. Unaltered properties are valued on their state in 1993 (but at 1991 values). Properties subsequently altered, extended etc are valued in their new state but still at 1991 values.

When Council Tax was first introduced, it was decided that it would be unfair to penalise people for improving their own homes and so any alterations in banding were deferred until the property was sold.

One thing that must be remembered is that properties are not given a precise value; they are just placed in bands which each cover a range of values. Just because properties are of different shapes and sizes does not automatically mean that they belong in different bands. One may be right at the bottom of a band and the other right at the top but correctly will still be banded together.

There is a right to appeal to a Valuation Tribunal but, in general, this is now limited to the first six months occupation by a new owner or where there has been a material change in the neighbourhood around the property.

However, the VOA has a statutory duty to maintain the accuracy and quality of the valuation list. If any householder discovers an error in the list and can produce good reason to support their claim, then they can ask the VOA to look at and, if necessary, rectify such error. The six month time limit does not apply, but equally there is no right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal if the VOA does not act; the only "appeal" route would be by way of an application for Judicial Review - but few householders are likely to follow that route.

gb39

taba wrote:

Can someone help after reading this thread I appealed on the basis I live in a semi-detached and am banded D all other properties in the road are C they are 3 bed detached with garage we don't have a garage and they have larger gardens.
I have received a reply today saying 'The banding is correct. I accept you may have referred to properties in a different band but there may be reasons that are not immediately apparent or they need to be reveiwed.
On the facts I hold it does not appear to me that you are able to make a proposal to alter the band.
I have just checked on Nationwide site based on our property value now it was Band C in April 1991.
Have I any grounds I can appeal on - I have lived here since 1987 and never knew until I looked at the site we are the only property and the neighbour we are semi with are the only Band D.

Taba

The VOA may well be right in telling you that you have no right to make a proposal to alter the list, but your reply should be to remind them of their statutory duty to maintain the quality of the list and set out why you think the list is wrong.

musey

musey wrote:

My council did automatically for me, I didn't have to contact them or anything. I received the letters about a month after (my backdating also went back to '93). Strangely enough my council are forcing the next door neighbours to go to tribunal as they don't hold their claim valid, they have the exact same house to me....curious?

Just thought I'd update again. My neighbours have been round tonight with a bunch of flowers, bottle of wine and box of chocolates at long last and after some tough talking about being happy to go to a tribunal they have been rebanded to A also. As they have been in the property since '91 they are looking forward to a healthy refund and were delighted. So the information on MSE again strikes a blow for the over-charged. Thank to the Op & all the contributors for the information in this thread!!!!