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

CIS · 24 March 2017 at 4:31PM

talisay wrote: »

Sorry Craig I meant Council Tax benefit. Do they take back all the money paid up to the refund amount for that year. In the early years there was about £200 between the bands. I think I would still received some council tax discount even if my council tax had been £200 lower. I know it's hard to be specific without knowing the figures but anything you can tell me would be helpful. Many thanks

As it was done by direct credit to the council tax account then any 'excess' council tax benefit should simply taken off the account (it's a paper exercise), you'll not have to physically re-pay any council tax benefit.

For example
Band A - £1000 charge
Band B - £1200 charge and full CTB of £1200

When they drop it to band A they will credit £1000 of Council Tax Benefit and remove the other £200 direct from the account, no cash needs to be paid.

The amount of Council Tax Benefit didn't directly depend on the band - it was based solely on income etc. The only proviso was it obviously couldn't pay more than your actual Council Tax charge.

Craig

ammonite · 29 March 2017 at 9:47PM

My house is band C. My other neighbours in same size house are band C.

Two things that seem like I should be in B...

*My parents live close by in a slightly bigger house, their whole road is band B.

*Our house was bought in 1996 for £49k so should have been cheaper in 1991 prices. Surely band B?

Is it worth challenging? It would affect our house and three others in the road, the rest are different sizes and bands. Ours and one other has had an extension the other two haven't. The extension is why I thought we were band C but having looked at the other properties it seems we are C because we are the 3 bed semis

lincroft1710 · 30 March 2017 at 1:43PM

ammonite wrote: »

My house is band C. My other neighbours in same size house are band C.

Two things that seem like I should be in B...

*My parents live close by in a slightly bigger house, their whole road is band B.

*Our house was bought in 1996 for £49k so should have been cheaper in 1991 prices. Surely band B?

Is it worth challenging? It would affect our house and three others in the road, the rest are different sizes and bands. Ours and one other has had an extension the other two haven't. The extension is why I thought we were band C but having looked at the other properties it seems we are C because we are the 3 bed semis

1996 prices in most areas were still below those of 1991. It wasn't until 1997/8 (or even 1999 in some areas) that after a long fall from 1988/89 to 1995, prices were at 1991 values.

You do not say what type of houses the Band Bs are in your road or your parents' house. There are so many things besides size which affect sale prices and thus CT bands.

Rickp · 2 April 2017 at 1:49PM

Hello all I'm new to this forum & I'm looking for advice. I'm trying to get my banding reduced. I've been on all the price comparison sites & they all come out roughly the same. I've checked on the Nationwide calculator on all the properties I've lived in since 1975. I've prices year on year as I lived there & I must say in was accurate to within 5% every time. So I contacted the valuation office & all they said was the site is generic & can't be used as evidence. So I went on Zoopla & search for properties similar to mine in my town. They went as far back as 1996 as nothing of a similar ilk was build pre 1991. Again the odds seem to be stacked in my favour. But the valuation office said I have to find a like for like property. So I happened to find 2 of them in my road. One was deemed too small to be like for like, the other is slightly larger than mine. The valuation office's response was the lower banding for this property is to do the circumstances of the property. In a former dwelling of mine I paid £53,000 for it in 1989. We wanted to modernise it the spring of 1991 & the mortgage company would release funding saying the price of the house had gone down to £48,000. In 1999 after modernisation costing over £5,000 I sold the house for £54,750. The very same property was sold 16 months ago for £148,000. There is a flat below me so on the same footprint for sale today at £58,950. Yet my 2 bedroom flat is in the same band as the 3 bed semi above sold for £148,000. Surely this can't be so. I fell like I'm going around in circles with the valuation office. Can anybody advise me on my next move. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.
Rick

lincroft1710 · 2 April 2017 at 2:51PM

Rickp wrote: »

Can anybody advise me on my next move. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

What is your current band, when did you buy your flat and for how much?

Rickp · 2 April 2017 at 3:38PM

I'm actually renting. I've been here since August. The flats started being occupied in 1996/97. That's all the info I can give at the moment. As I said there's a property below me that has been up for sale since before Xmas 2016 for £58,995. The semi detached property had off road parking, plus garage central heating & double glazing. This flat has none of the above & doesn't even have permanent heating in the lounge area. I had to buy a heater as the winter set in. It's basically no frills bog standard dwelling. Both this property & the semi I describe are in band B.

lincroft1710 · 2 April 2017 at 7:15PM

In many places property prices hit a high in 1988/89 and then fell annually until 1995. By 1999 most had risen to around 1991 levels. My guess is that the 1996/7 sale price for these flats was high, but they haven't kept pace with other property.

If you were in time to make a valid appeal, you have a right to go to a Valuation Tribunal. If you are outside the 6 month time limit and you can't persuade them, there is very little you can do other than try and find a similar property in Band A.

Rickp · 3 April 2017 at 8:29AM

Thanks for that. Like I said I found 2 similar properties & they said one was too small & the other was reduced due to circumstances. I'd love to know what the circumstances are/were, as the flat looks just like mine, it's made of bricks & mortar. In a way it's my own fault I read the 6 month resident limit. I thought it said you had to live in a property for 6 months before you could appeal.

Starling2015 · 5 April 2017 at 9:03AM

First time here, not entirely sure I'm posting in correct place!

I received the money saving email regarding council tax rebanding and am after some guidance if I should proceed.

We bought our ground floor 2 bed flat in august 2006. There is one flat of same size and layout above us. Adjoined to us are two flats that was originally a house ( our flats were joined on by extension I believe in 1976) The flats next door are 3 bedrooms and the total floor area of those 2 flats are double in size compared to us. My flat and the two adjoining are band B however the flat above me is a band A.

Houses opposite us albeit they have a different postcode have a B band when they are 3 bedroom semi detached.

I have looked at the sale history of our flat and done the nationwide 1991 calculator which confirms Band A ( £34000), was sold in 1996 for 28000.

My concern is if I get rejected that the flat above me will move to a band b and she is a retired lady on her own

, would hate that to happen.

Oh and there are a group of flats very similar to ours just round the corner all are band A ( ours maybe worth a bit more than them due to that area they are situated)

Is it pursuing?

Thanks do your time

lincroft1710 · 5 April 2017 at 3:18PM

Starling2015 wrote: »

We bought our ground floor 2 bed flat in august 2006. There is one flat of same size and layout above us. Adjoined to us are two flats that was originally a house ( our flats were joined on by extension I believe in 1976) The flats next door are 3 bedrooms and the total floor area of those 2 flats are double in size compared to us. My flat and the two adjoining are band B however the flat above me is a band A.

I have looked at the sale history of our flat and done the nationwide 1991 calculator which confirms Band A ( £34000), was sold in 1996 for 28000.

My concern is if I get rejected that the flat above me will move to a band b and she is a retired lady on her own , would hate that to happen.

Is it pursuing?

Thanks do your time

Check the history of the band of the neighbour above, there is a possibility that the band was reduced. If it has always been Band A, then it is up to you if you want to ask for a band review and if your band is found to be correct, as you say, your neighbour's band may be increased.

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

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