Council Tax result

I followed the guide it mentions here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6296849.stm
which is this one:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/council

Basically the steps are to check your banding compared
to your neighbours. If you know that your house is
identical (ie, terrace or built to the same plans)
but there is a discrepancy, then you probably have
a case in your favour.

You then need to work out the house prices using
factual information (ie, not "I think my house is
worth...") which you should be able to get from
the VOA website, such as sale/purchase information.
Using the calculator, work them all back to
April 1991 and see which band it then fits into.

If, having done all of the above, you still think
it's wrong, write a letter to the VOA (remember
that the council has nothing to do with it) and
make sure you use the key phrase "I believe the
council tax banding list is incorrect, as my house
is in the wrong band, and I ask that it is corrected."

It will take about 2-3 months but if you have
a good enough claim you should be fine.

 

This is what I did. The house was extended by the previous occupier in the
late 1990s. As 2 bedrooms were added the council rebanded the property but
the new council tax rate did not apply until Aug 2002 when we moved in. The
house was further rebanded in 2005 as we live in Wales.

As I was a student from 2002 until 2005 I did nothing about the first
rebanding. However, the 2nd rebanding stuck us in group F.

Obviously I had a real world valuation of the house as it had changed hands
in 2002. As mentioned above, I used readily available calculators (see
antonye's link) to calculate the value on the appropriate date (April 2003
in Wales, 1991 in England & Scotland). The sums just got us into Wales Band
E.

 

Many thanks to you and wessie for your helpful replies.

I'll do the business along the lines you suggest.

 

sorry for the delay - as others have said, contact the VOA, and
prepare to be patronised.

 

I'll just add to that, don't assume just because your band is higher
than someone else's, that it automatically means your band is too
high. It could be just as likely your neighbour's band is too low.
Bringing it to the VOA's attention means you might just be dropping
your neighbour in it. Or indeed in extreme circumstances, that *all*
your bandings are too low! So before you approach the VOA, make
absolutely sure it's *yours* that's incorrect using the resources
mentioned above.

 

Depending on how much you like your neighbour,
this could be seen as a GoodThing™

 

Yes, thanks for that.

All the houses in this street were orginally identical; some have
since been extended. Even the latter remain in the original Banding.

Using the house-price caculator, and ignoring the house that's had a
two-storey extension, the four houses that have sold since 2001 have
an average value in Q2 1991 of 67955, marginally under the bottom of
Band D. The two unextended ones average 64090, well under the limit.

The VOA website shows that the only house banded in C was at one time
banded D, and I'm pretty certain that no works that would have led to
a lower banding have been carried out (losing a bedroom or garage,
disabled facilities, etc).

I think I'm in with a good chance here of either getting a lower
banding, or his banding going up. See my other posting.....

I'm not holding my breath on this one, but the exercise must be done.

 

He's an ex-copper, his wife left him years ago and the grown-up kids
never visit. He hasn't spoken to me, except for one time in the line
of duty, for the 33 years we've been here. I'm happy for that to
continue.

 

Once you've written the letter they have to look
into it. I expect that a lot of them get rejected
at the first stage because they just say "I think
my house is worth..." which doesn't really cut
it, but having variances in banding over identical
houses is a cause for concern.

Good luck!

 

If it warranted a higher banding, it won't kick in until it's sold to
someone else. That's assuming the VOA knew about it at all. If not,
you can drop them in it... just for giggles.

Your lower banded neighbour was probably more 'system-savvy', and made
a successful appeal long ago before the time limits ran out. If
that's the case, any reduction of banding agreed on an official
appeal, can never be increased again, even if evidence subsequently
comes to light that the reduction was unjustified. Or at least until
he does something physical to change his house's value or there's a
countrywide revaluation. If his banding is wrong, it'll have to stay
wrong, but don't expect yours would be made wrong as well just for
parity.

It does sound promising from what you say, so good luck.

 

I'd guessed that that might be the case. However, it does mean that a
Valuation Officer opined at the time that the neighbour's house should
be in a lower band. I intend to mention this as a supplementary piece
of evidence, rather than rely on it as the main thrust of my argument.
At the very least, in order to turn my case down, they would have to
admit they were wrong then - something bureaucracies tend not to do.

I wonder if his valuation has any bearing on the fact that some years
ago, he stripped the paint from his garage door, resulting in a
mottled primer/galvanised steel effect, in which state it has
remained.

Well, I've got all my evidence together, and I'm now putting into
shape, with a nice spreadsheet, references, and the odd satellite
photo for verisimilitude.

I'm including the latter because I have a unique problem in the
street. Here, all the garages are at the ends of the gardens, but the
houses are built in a circle, facing outwards. The garage
hardstandings are owned by the householders, and abut the road around
the central island.

The Council recycler lorries, six tons per axle, used to take the easy
path, and swing across my hardstanding on entry to the circle.
Needless to say, the hardstanding is built only for cars and light
vans, and after a while the hardstanding broke up. It was in this
state when the valuation was carried out. It would have been a factor
in lowering the value of my house, due to the unsightlyness and cost
of repair.

Fortunately, some years later, the gas people came along and replaced
all the gas mains, which lay exactly under the broken hardstanding,
so it was repaired, to a good standard, for free. I now ensure that I
always have a vehicle parked in front of my garage, ensuring no
corner-cutting by the recyclers. The original damage can just be seen
on the local.live overhead photo.

Many thanks to all who replied to my original request for help. I've
come a long way since then, and am confident of putting forward a
goods case for re-banding. I'll post the outcome in due course.

 

So get them to write to the VOA!

 

Cool. We're one band lower than our neighbours, and we (and they) can't
figure out why as the houses are the same 4-bed semis.

 

Wouldn't that run the risk of getting his own put into the same band as
his neighbours?

 

<fx: loads shotgun>

And if anybody's thinking of grassing me up......

 

You can't outrun the lawn