council tax bands(boring!)

[noddy5]

We are just about to move into a house and the council tax is huge!All the houses in the street are worth a lot more as ours is not Victorian and was built in the 70's.We have been advised to appeal against the banding as the house has always been worth less than the others in the street.Has anyone successfully appealed and how long does it take.BTW I didn't know council tax was based on the valuation in 1991!

Hmmm can't say i know much about it TBH, but can sympathise. We just moved and went from being in band A to D and we only moved round the corner.

The council tax went up more than the rent did.

I did think about appealing but then considered that the valuation could be higher and then council tax would increae again wouldn't it ??

Don't know about the appeal process TBH but can sympathise - when we moved into our house 8 years ago the valuation was way over what we actually paid for the house. Information on council tax can be found on the valuation office website - www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax HTH

Good luck, especially woth doing given the news stories if it's already in a higher band!

Wasn't council tax dependant of value of the house? I don't know which are the "brackets" in your area but if the house has been valued by significantly less maybe you qualify for a lower council tax fee.

You need to find out what your house was worth in 1991. Was its value different to the value of the other houses in the street. can yuo prove it? It's THAT value that will determine the council tax bracket it should be in.

Having said that, my Mum & Dad appealed - and KNEW the values for the period in question - but failed. But that's in Scotland, which may be different.

You've got nothing to lose by appealing - and a lot to gain!

We appealed on ours as it was new and the council over estimated it. We wanted it to be two bands lower but ended up one band lower which was a good compromise. The appeal process took about 6 months I think and we had to keep paying the higher amount in the mean time, which is very important BTW, as councils don't take too kindly to non payment! Can't really remember much else as dh did most of it. HTH

Thanks all we definitely plan to appeal.The houses in the street were worth 88-120,000 in 1991 but the one we are buying was only about 60,000 at the time so will give it a go!