Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area
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Mtem - I always think "value" is a difficult thing to quantify in relation to houses. Last year you paid £x for your home, but if identical houses in the same area sold around same date for £x - 10%, then it could be argued that your home was in fact worth 10% less than you paid for it. In your eyes it was worth £x at the time of your offer and it could be argued that this was its value then, it will probably be worth less now.
Although my experience shows house price calculators for southern England to be on average 15% inaccurate, I don't suppose those for Scotland would be any more reliable. You're out of time to make a valid proposal, but you could ask the assessor to check that the band is correct and which houses he used to arrive at the bands for your estate. You could ask your neighbours if they have appealed their bands.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0 -
We have had a letter from a firm offering to assist us in obtaining a refund on council tax as we are a working farm with agricultural tie,this is on a no win no fee basis. Has anyone heard of these firms, would much rather,obviously, obtain a refund for ourselves if its proved we're eligible. Any suggestions? Thanks0
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Hi gapcap. I don't know anything about the agricultural side of council tax, but I would have thought that in the event that you do get a refund/reduction the company you employed to do the work would cream off most of your profits. If you can see your way to doing it yourself you'd get the full benefit.
However, perhaps someone else on here, maybe one of the ex-VOA folks, could tell you more about what is at stake with this one.
I hope you have success!0 -
Gapcap - do you have a house with a restricted planning consent i.e. can only be occupied by someone engaged in agriculture or do you have a farm with farmhouse which is probably more than 60 yrs old. If your council tax band has the word comp or composite after it, then it has been recognised as a farmhouse which is part of a farm. You can check this either by looking at your CT bill or logging on to VOA website.
I should point out that because of the way the formula is calculated to arrive at band for farmhouse, although the band would tend to be lower than that for a similar house which is not part of a farm, this is not always the case.
As Zebedee says if you think you are eligible as your house has not been treated as a farmhouse do the work yourself. The fees for a company doing the work could swallow first year's (or more) saving.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0 -
We tried this for ourselves (a few neighbours were on band C, whilst we are on D, and the properties are basically the same) but unfortunately to no avail. We however got more success in the Isle of Wight with some family member, for whom we managed to get a rebanding from F to E. I cannot recall the exact amount which we managed to save, but no payments has been made by our family members to the council for over a year now
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Great news KittaKatta, well done!Please stay safe in the sun and learn the A-E of melanoma: A = asymmetry, B = irregular borders, C= different colours, D= diameter, larger than 6mm, E = evolving, is your mole changing? Most moles are not cancerous, any doubts, please check next time you visit your GP.
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I've read the system but it seems to be based on using the valuations of the neighbours, my house is unique being a timber built bungalow, my guess is that it is of a lot less value than the houses around it and most likely has been banded with them, but how do I find out with it being the only one?0
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Progress report, then! My tribunal is on October 6th. The VOA promised me their evidence by 28 days in advance, but nothing yet. I have been chasing and chasing.
Meantime, the mysterious Band D flat six doors down which sold for more than our Band F flat would be worth and is rented out for more than we pay but the VOA said at the start was smaller... is 20% bigger according to the estate agent who sold it.
So I have, without stating what I believe the size to be, asked them to check. They say they won't tell me the size but will confirm how it compares to ours.
Just waiting, apart from that.Hurrah, now I have more thankings than postings, cheers everyone!0 -
Dear Gapcap
With regard to Ag properties the value can be reduced by up to 30% because of
1-Planning Restrictions
2-Location adjacent working farm, limited gardens etc
3-The property is assumed to include the farm land but its value is apportioned out. The result of this is that a house with say 3 acres can be worth more than the norm whilst a house with 300 acres could be worth less
You can view the VOA instructions on this on their website.
As a working surveyor I take council tax cases and charge around 30% of the refund. On nearly all my cases the client has aproached the VOA first without success and I would suggest you try this first. Check first however that there is no chance your band will be increased.
If you go with this firm (can I ask who they are) make sure there are no hidden fees or other costs. Ask them how they are able to submit a valid appeal, assuming you have been in occupation for more than six months.
Hope this helps
Regards
ExVOperson0 -
The VOA are under a legal requirement to provide any sales evidence giving at least 2 weeks notice so it should be in the post!!!0
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