Council tax band review

[MiniMum97]

Just had a letter saying they are going to review our band. Probably up I imagine. Anyone got any experience of this process and how long it takes, what happens etc?
V worried as have son going to uni in sept and will need to find £300 odd a month we don't have and now another amount for extra council tax.

[concertplayer]

No experience but know it can go up or down.I think they compare u with the area
and properties around you so someone in a smallish flat in a street with posh
houses will pay more than if the area just has similar "ordinary" properties
nearby

[heron98]

This has just happened to us.

We bought our house in Feb and apparently the sale triggers them to review a property's band from B to C

They put ours up. It happened almost with immediate affect.

I'm in the process of appealing as all our neighours' properties are still band B but I suspect it's because none of them have been sold for over 20 years and I am not holding my breath.

Apparently the appeal can take 3 months...

[dream75]

A council tax band can only be changed once a property is sold. If the property has had an extension or loft conversion then the band will only be changed once the property is sold. The Valuation Office are very slow with dealing with things and an appeal can take months. If you are planning on buying a house and want to know if there is a possible council tax change you can look on the voa.gov website and if the property has a little I next to it then a material change has been reported on it. It's not good for new buyers who are trying to budget.

[paddingtonbear1]

We got a similar letter a week or so ago. Moved here in Feb. Was initially surprised (but pleased) that the band was the same as our old house, despite this place being twice the size! Rather worried now about the extra we may have to find :(

[CPtart]

Our band was increased twofold when we moved in as the property had been extended a few years earlier ( as had next door neighbour's). We have since paid more council tax than them by quite some margin, which annoys me no end!

[Pico2]

Ours stayed the same. I'd guess that it was because it was a relatively small addition compared to the size of the house.

Apparently they aren't allowed to ask to come into your house, only survey it from the outside. I did invite the guy in when he came to do ours as you couldn't really tell what had been done from the outside.