Council tax banding. Has anyone successfully challenged their banding

Yes we did. It was reduced by one band and we received a rebate for the previous years we'd paid at the higher rate. It was very simple to do, didn't take long. We felt pretty sure that the other same/ very similar properties wouldn't be increased so we took the chance and it paid off.

I’ve been digging into this area quite a bit. The key thing is usually not just “my neighbours pay less”, but whether you can show a pattern of comparable properties: same type, similar size/layout etc.

I built a tool called Rebandify that helps pull this kind of evidence together for households challenging their council tax band. I’m the founder, so take this as disclosed, but the basic checks are:

1. compare similar nearby properties,
2. check the historic valuation logic,

It also generates an argument you can copy/paste into your challenge.

The link is rebandify.co.uk

It is almost impossible to find out what your house would have cost in 1991 because that is pre internet. The valuation office contacted us a whole year after we moved in putting our house up a band because the previous owners built an extension.
I argued that even with the extension this house would not have been worth £60k in 1991 and sent them all the info that MSE tells you to. We bought a house in 1985 and in 1997 and that value at the time would have been far more than we could have ever afforded.
They took another whole year to reply, quoting prices of 3 random properties in our town that aren't remotely like our house or even in the same district. Our house was built in the 60s and is a typical square box with a tiny garden. One of the comparisons was a stonebuilt cottage built before 1881 in a tree-lined boulevard 3.5 miles away.
I complained but they weren't having it and of course it's gone up even more this year so we are back to £2550 (from £1900 when we moved in 3 years ago).

How long did it take for you to get an answer? I have applied today!

I know someone who successfully challenged hers a few years ago. Her son bought a house last year and she helped him to do the same.

Both of them had their council tax bands reduced.

I have
I had to find i think it was five similar properties nearby with the lower band. I did it as soon as i bought the house though

I submitted 5 months ago so I’m expecting a response any time now! I used the MoneySavingExpert guide. I picked several nearby properties which are the same as mine but a lower band. I provided floor plan and photos (thanks Rightmove!). I went further and reviewed all available sold prices in the early 1990s in the local area for similar sized properties and not one sold for more than a £65k which is my attempt at proving a point! I’m not optimistic but it’s been niggling at me for years so I figured I’d regret not trying.

My parents were in a G. The lady who had it before them enjoyed being a G because she thought it gave her status….after 10 years they got it reduced to F and didn’t have to pay any for a while because they were in so much credit

My sister did, many years ago. They got theirs reduced and then promptly did an extension.

I wasn't impressed.

We challenged successfully and had ours lowered. The house was previously an end terrace with a huge garden. The last owner sold the garden and built a house attached to ours, making ours a mid terrace again. It made sense we paid the same as the mid terrace neighbours.

Every government knows this but no-one wants the cost and grief of doing a re-valuation. The Daily Mail would run endless stories of sad faced pensioners facing big increases, even if there were as many winners as losers

I would like to but I am worried that instead of decreasing mine they'll increase the neighbours' instead. I'm in a new build (well 8 years old), 1,200 sq ft and I'm in the same band as the largest houses in my street that are 2,000 sq ft. How can that be right?

I had mine successfully changed about 5yrs ago. Had been in the property five years before realising most of my neighbours were in a lower band. It took two attempts but it was back paid to the date I moved into the property. My next door neighbour applied straight after me and also got a refund.

Given that the band's were calculated based on the valuation of the property in 1991 if you challenge it I expect instead of your band coming down your neighbours would increase.

We also had a neighbour query theirs and got the rest of the streets raised.

Yes DH did this a few years ago and got ours lowered. Of course it's back up now even higher due to all the increases, but still 😆

No, but I really think the council tax system needs a revamp. It's absurd that houses for sale with hugely varying asking prices have the same council tax band. In my village there are three houses for sale one at £1,695,000, one at £735,000 and one at £625,000 all with the same band council tax.

Also, every property should have a water meter.

I did, jointly with other houses and got over £6k back, was amazed

If everyone accidentally in a lower band was put into a higher band then increases won't end up being as much to meet targets though so it still benefits people over time.

Yep 👍 my cousin did, she had to put up a fight but got a lower banding in the end!

I suspect it's much more likely this would happen. I've known 3 people enquire and none of them have had their band lowered, all three had the rest of the streets bands increased to be inline with theirs.

Yes. A neighbour approached us to ask if we knew we were on a higher band than the majority of houses on the estate. He was looking at selling and realised he was a higher band too.
DH challenged it and we got a refund and moved to the same band as everyone else.
I suspect our neighbour told us so we could get the blame if everyone else got moved up!

My mum did not long after the system was introduced.
We tried a few years ago for ours when we discover neighbouring identical properties were on a lower band. We didn't hear anything until our NDN called to ask had our CT band been increased 🫣 We just said ours had always been the higher band.

Did they find out it was you?