Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

themilnes · 30 June 2008 at 1:11PM

Thanks for all your help! I'm having the floor area of our house checked as our house is not at all square so it'd be good to make sure that they're in the right ball park with their measurements as our guys also seem to be placing a lot of emphasis upon floor area.

Meanwhile I've been told that since there are so few sales in our area I can attempt to find other, similar houses that are in the lower banding and can use that as evidence. Not sure how keen I am on this since they've said that they're going to re-evaluate the first one I mentioned - could end up making myself VERY unpopular in the village!!

littlepockets · 1 July 2008 at 10:05AM

themilnes wrote: »

Thanks for all your help! I'm having the floor area of our house checked as our house is not at all square so it'd be good to make sure that they're in the right ball park with their measurements as our guys also seem to be placing a lot of emphasis upon floor area.

Meanwhile I've been told that since there are so few sales in our area I can attempt to find other, similar houses that are in the lower banding and can use that as evidence. Not sure how keen I am on this since they've said that they're going to re-evaluate the first one I mentioned - could end up making myself VERY unpopular in the village!!

I think they can only re-band a property if there is a new owner They cannot reband an existing property so I would not worry about the neighbours.

vivatifosi · 1 July 2008 at 11:42AM

littlepockets wrote: »

I think they can only re-band a property if there is a new owner They cannot reband an existing property so I would not worry about the neighbours.

Yes and no.

They can only reband a house that has been extended upon a sale. You can see such houses on the VOA website, they have a little "i" in a blue circle on their website.

For other properties, if the VOA can prove the band was wrong all along, then they can reband the property. However in this situation anyone with their property rebanded upwards would have the right to take the matter straight to tribunal. I don't think enough people do this.

petermasih · 2 July 2008 at 9:51AM

Have just received confirmation from VOA that the house of someone who I was helping has been rebanded from Band E to Band A!!!!! I'm pretty chuffed. :j The council are in the process of working out how much money he should be refunded back to 1993.

His case was somewhat unusual. The only evidence we used was a letter from VOA itself defending their own low 2002 valuation - which they provided to the benefits people in connection with a benefits appeal.

But it only goes to show that there are some houses out there where people have been paying way over the odds for the last 15 years.

vivatifosi · 2 July 2008 at 11:27AM

petermasih wrote: »

Have just received confirmation from VOA that the house of someone who I was helping has been rebanded from Band E to Band A!!!!! I'm pretty chuffed. :j The council are in the process of working out how much money he should be refunded back to 1993.

Wow, that's a huge refund, congratulations! I have never heard of a case that was so wrong. You've really made my day. Thanks!

GCRH · 2 July 2008 at 3:43PM

Council Tax Bands - Timeout
Glad to see that a lot of users benefitting from reduced bands. I challenged my local Valuation Office over a period in excess of 12 months and, using up-to-date valuations that local houses had been sold for, together with the Nationwide calculator proved that I was in 1 band too high. Eventually I went to a tribunal where, despite the sympathies of the chairman, I was not allowed to present my case. He said that the Tribunal was not there to discuss the merits of my case - as he could not alter the law -but merely to see if my case was "valid". The Valuation Officer, who also attended, just pointed out that my application was outside the original deadline which was 6 months after initial inception in 1993 and was, therefore, invalid - so it was rejected.
In other words, anyone who did not apply for a re-banding within 6 months of the commencement of the Council Tax policy, when very few understood it anyway and the information for comparisons with other similar properties was not so readily available, was deemed to be too late, even if it could be shown that the original valuation was incorrect. So much for Magna Carta!

losgiganteskid · 2 July 2008 at 4:00PM

That's a bit bizzare, as in theory anyone who challenges their banding AFTER 6 months of moving in would have had their request dismissed, but looking at the thread where people have been sucessful - this is clearly not the case !.

You should have asked the Chairman, why was it that rebandings were and are still taking place irrespective of the 6 month rule !!

joyce341 · 2 July 2008 at 4:34PM

i helped a friend with this who had a disabled child and liveing in an adapted house,not only was she not getting discount but their house was the only one in a higher band,they won their case,it was lowered two bands,but they did not get any money back instead the council reduced their council tax untill their refund was covered,they had quite a bit to come back,is this legal?

Zebedeee · 2 July 2008 at 11:36PM

GCRH wrote: »

Council Tax Bands - Timeout
Glad to see that a lot of users benefitting from reduced bands. I challenged my local Valuation Office over a period in excess of 12 months and, using up-to-date valuations that local houses had been sold for, together with the Nationwide calculator proved that I was in 1 band too high. Eventually I went to a tribunal where, despite the sympathies of the chairman, I was not allowed to present my case. He said that the Tribunal was not there to discuss the merits of my case - as he could not alter the law -but merely to see if my case was "valid". The Valuation Officer, who also attended, just pointed out that my application was outside the original deadline which was 6 months after initial inception in 1993 and was, therefore, invalid - so it was rejected.
In other words, anyone who did not apply for a re-banding within 6 months of the commencement of the Council Tax policy, when very few understood it anyway and the information for comparisons with other similar properties was not so readily available, was deemed to be too late, even if it could be shown that the original valuation was incorrect. So much for Magna Carta!

Hi there, and welcome GCRH.

It would appear that what you attended was a Validity Tribunal. The VOA should make it more clear, but the Validity Tribunal is there simply to discuss whether or not you have a valid claim to challenge your banding under certain strict criteria, the 6 months rule being the main one. They will not discuss your reasons for rebanding at these tribunals so you need to be able to force a Valuation Tribunal by other means.

This happened to me and I realised that I couldn't win a validity tribunal (I was way outside the 6 months) and so I rang the VTS and asked them what I could do, as I still felt that I had a very good case for rebanding. They were very helpful and told me that if I could find a case in my area of a simillar property to mine which had gone to tribunal and won in the last 6 months then I could have my own valuation tribunal on the back of that. That may be easier said than done, but I believe that the property in question doesn't have to be identical to yours, but merely that YOU believe there to be a simillarity.

You might find it helpful to ring your VTS and see if they can suggest anything, or at least help you find another property that you can use to get yourself a Valuation Tribunal.

Hope that helps!

Zebedeee

exvoperson · 3 July 2008 at 9:36AM

Zebedeee wrote: »

Hi there, and welcome GCRH.

It would appear that what you attended was a Validity Tribunal. The VOA should make it more clear, but the Validity Tribunal is there simply to discuss whether or not you have a valid claim to challenge your banding under certain strict criteria, the 6 months rule being the main one. They will not discuss your reasons for rebanding at these tribunals so you need to be able to force a Valuation Tribunal by other means.

This happened to me and I realised that I couldn't win a validity tribunal (I was way outside the 6 months) and so I rang the VTS and asked them what I could do, as I still felt that I had a very good case for rebanding. They were very helpful and told me that if I could find a case in my area of a simillar property to mine which had gone to tribunal and won in the last 6 months then I could have my own valuation tribunal on the back of that. That may be easier said than done, but I believe that the property in question doesn't have to be identical to yours, but merely that YOU believe there to be a simillarity.

You might find it helpful to ring your VTS and see if they can suggest anything, or at least help you find another property that you can use to get yourself a Valuation Tribunal.

Hope that helps!

Zebedeee

Dear Zebedeee and GCRH

On this point you have to refer to whats called a 'relevant' tribunal decision which has been made within the last 6 months. All decisions are posted on the Valuation Tribunal Service website. Its easiest to do a search on your tribunal area
The problem here is that the VOA have a very restricted view on this. For example if you found a decision on a 3 bed s/d house in your town that was reduced then this could be a 'relevant' decision if you also had a 3 bed s/d house. However the VOA would say its not relevant if you lived in a 3 bed terraced or detached house. Not sure what they would say about a 2 bed s/d house.
I think 'relevant' has a much wider meaning and would argue that almost any decision in your town which showed a banding reduction is relevant.
I have a hearing on this matter mid August and the VOA have told me they will appeal to high court if they lose as it will open the flood gates on people appealing-oh dear!!!
I'm awaiting a reply from Martin at the moment as this web site may pay for the legal costs to help win the case. Will let you know the outcome.

All the best

ExVOperson

Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

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