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

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  • Drinda
    Drinda Posts: 265 Forumite
    I asked for my re-banding in Feb, had a reply dated 29th Feb saying there was a 8 week wait, rang them end of June, was told so many people had asked for re-banding it was taking much longer, here we are the end of August and still nothing, should I ring them or write sending it recorded mail. I have lived in my pensioners bungalow from 1980 when my number was "5" in the early 90s the road was renumbered and I became 34, now I find that number "5" just across the road is a C band and I am a D also a lot of these bungalows have been sold over the last few years and had huge extensions building 3 bedrooms and bathroom up stairs and building very large kitchens on the back, that's fine but they are all a C and I am a D.

    I come under Chelmsford, any advice.
    Drinda.
  • guppy
    guppy Posts: 1,084
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    I would phone in the first instance, something has definitely gone wrong if you haven't heard anything within six months. Phone up and ask what is going on.

    If you get a letter saying the band is correct gather all your evidence together and write again. Before you do this (if necessary) I'd also ask to speak to the person that dealt with the case directly and ask them to explain the decision.

    If you disagree with their arguments, put this in the letter too.

    Good luck :)
  • E36
    E36 Posts: 12 Forumite
    Hi all, tried to search but this thread is way too big!

    I am looking into my council tax banding, currently band E, but it isn’t quite as simple for me as I have a farm. It was bought in 1987, and According to the nationwide house price thing, its value would have increased by 29% by Q2 1991. (Applicable for a farm?) Thus it would be in band G.

    However I understand from a valuation office person I contacted that council tax is based on the 'dwelling', i.e. the house and not the land, and therefore the value of the land must be taken from the value of the entire property to give an approximate value of the house.

    The closest to the '91 land values (/acre) I could find was the 1982 VOA property market report, (have requested the 1987 and '91 reports too). Now assuming the land prices did not change at all between '82 and '91 (!), and I have approximated the 'quality/type' of land correctly, then the house banding works out to be on the border between D and E. Considering all the nearby farms and properties actually have larger houses than mine, and are all band D, I believe I have a case.

    So my main question really, apart from if the MSE guide is that relevant to me as a farm owner, is if the above argument is good enough to lower the banding. I reckon that going from E to D is quite reasonable, possibly to C...

    Thanks, :beer:
  • guppy
    guppy Posts: 1,084
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    E36,

    The VOA's guidance on valuing the domestic part of farms for Council Tax can be found here, take a look at section three (bit technical):

    http://www.voa.gov.uk/instructions/chapters/council_tax/council_tax_man_pn/f-ct-man-pn2-appb.htm

    An easier way is to simply look at the bandings of similar size and quality farmhouses/cottages in your area and see how your's compares, making allowances for its location etc.
  • My father has got the tax refund from 1997, and not from 1993?
    My mother in fact was paying by DD from 1993 - 1997, my father took over from then.

    Should my mother be entitled for the first 4 years refund too?, and if so, does this mean she has to apply for the tax refund separately.?

    They have been married 50 years and live at the same address. It seems strange as they have the same surname and no change of address, the difference is, my mother was paying first, then my father took over.

  • vivatifosi
    vivatifosi Posts: 18,746
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    Hi stardelight,

    Sorry for the delay in answering. First, I would go onto the VOA site and check the "effective from" date. If it is 1997, then that's the date that the refund is back to and not earlier. Normally this is because some type of change in local circumstances is taken into consideration, rather than the rebanding purely being because it was wrong in the first place.

    Once you have that information, contact your local council, or get your parents to and ask why they have only received a refund back to 1997. They should be in a position to rectify the problem. Where I live the previous occupants got a massive refund on the remainder of the period, and I'm not related to them and they moved away. Sounds a bit easier to sort your parents out, may just be that the earlier part of the cheque needs to go to a different person. Good luck!
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  • Hi, I'm about to complete on a 2 bed new build as part of an affordable housing scheme in a regeneration area. I have been informed that the suggested A banding is now a B which I would like to lower. I have spoken to the Valuations office who said I had 6 months to appeal but I wondered if there is anything I could do prior to moving in and should I still pay the council tax or wait until I had sorted it out (if I can).

    The full value of the property is £115,000 so using the advice on this site this falls well under the £40,000 limit for a band A property back in 1991. There are a lot of properties both private and council surrounding the develpoment which are majority band A or 'deleted'? and as mentioned this build is supposedly to regenerate the area. I just feel that because it's a new build, i'm possibly being made to pay more-even though there are much bigger properties nearby.

    I'm also on a direct flight route for Manchester airport (it came up in the searches) and wondered if that could help lower the banding as a friend had hers lowered because of a motorway being built?

    Any advice appreciated

    Thankyou :beer:
  • guppy
    guppy Posts: 1,084
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    Hi, I'm about to complete on a 2 bed new build as part of an affordable housing scheme in a regeneration area. I have been informed that the suggested A banding is now a B which I would like to lower. I have spoken to the Valuations office who said I had 6 months to appeal but I wondered if there is anything I could do prior to moving in and should I still pay the council tax or wait until I had sorted it out (if I can).

    Hi

    There is nothing to stop you building a case as to why you think the band should be lower now, or asking the VOA to explain how they have decided it should be B.

    Even if they disagree with you, you can at least have your case ready to go for when you do move in.

    Hope that helps some
  • should I still pay the council tax or wait until I had sorted it out (if I can).
    Yes, definately make sure you pay the council tax when requested or you will find yourself in extra difficulties. It won't help your case to withhold payment and you will get a refund of any over-payments if/when your band is reduced anyway.

    Zebedeee
  • Hi Everyone.

    I've been taking a look at this article, and I'm not entirely sure if I should challenge my banding. Wanted some advice from you all:

    I live in Scotland, and am classified (according to the SAA site at least) as band D. of the 80 properties listed in my close (all built together around a shared car park), 54 are also band D, and 26 are band C.

    However, I've also looked on NetHousePrices, and there is a listing for my property from July last year for £82,500, which I assume if from the landlord remortgaging the property(?) - I've been here for over three years at least, so I have to assume thats the case. Taking that back to 1991 using the calculator linked to on the article, thats apparently £27, 086 - which, according to the article should have been band B.

    Now, obviously, if I got dropped to a Band B, that would return a fair amount of money to my pocket. I'm already on the higher band in my area, but I dont know if its worth the risk. What do you guys think?

    I will say that I was, for the first couple of years, negligent in paying my council tax (in that, I didnt). However, I'm almost clear of that debt (this month in fact), and that shouldnt affect any challenge, should it?

    Thanks
    Fergal
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