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Original poster

Anyone changed council tax bands?

20 replies

Rubyredroo · 17/02/2021 09:42

Moved house recently and on the council website there's an indicator to say that the house could be due a band change due to improvements made at the property. We've been in touch with them and been told we have to prove the property is in the wrong band. 1 - surely that's their job?! 2 - has anyone done this before? Any advice most welcome.

OP posts:

TitusPullo · 17/02/2021 09:44

Sounds like they thought you wanted to go down a band rather than them value upwards. I would leave it until they contact you.

thegcatsmother · 17/02/2021 19:56

If improvements have been made, so an extension etc, that will push it up a band, then normally that is flagged and you are billed for that from when you move in. It might be that it will happen when the new bills are issued for 2021/22, as the Councils will be doing their billing runs soon.

cptartapp · 17/02/2021 20:06

We moved and the council tax went from a C to an E due to the extension the sellers had done several years before.
Any re-valuation is only done on change of owner I think. Next door had also had an extension but as they still live there they are still band C! That will change if they ever sell.

Chumleymouse · 17/02/2021 20:15

Yes exactly as cptartapp has said ours is a higher band than most of the neighbours, even though some of their houses are a lot bigger ( extensions ) but when they move the band will increase to reflect this.

They all have little indicators on them too. It’s when planning permission has been granted on them. And yes it’s very difficult to get it lowered.

mumsy27 · 18/02/2021 02:59

moved in to a new place, six months ago, already paying for a higher band.
very efficient when it comes to collect the dosh. :)

Original poster

Rubyredroo · 18/02/2021 08:27

Thanks for the advice, think we'll leave it as is. It's already in a high bracket which I think is wrong as when it was built it was classed as a 4 bedroom house but legally the surveyor said the 4th room is too small to be classed as a bedroom and also there's a massive building been put up next door since it was built. That said there is a small extension that has been added so maybe that would offset it.

OP posts:

Geekygeek · 18/02/2021 09:15

We moved into our previous house with the same. Had a visit from the Valuation Office Agency VOA who had a look around and ultimately end in no change to band. 😊

emmathedilemma · 18/02/2021 09:52

I tried to down grade mine as the flat below is in a band lower than mine. Someone came round and explained that i have a slightly larger living area (due to bits above their entrance) and that tips me over the band. If there's a chance it might move to a more expensive band I would keep quiet!

titchy · 18/02/2021 10:17

We've been in touch with them and been told we have to prove the property is in the wrong band. 1 - surely that's their job?!

Yes it is their job and they have decided it's in the wrong band! Are you arguing they should also appeal against themselves and argue it should be in a lower band?!

Original poster

Rubyredroo · 18/02/2021 15:26

@titchy I'm not sure what you mean? There's an indicator on their website to say its had improvements so the banding needs looking at, we emailed them and they said we have to provide evidence that its in the wrong band - it's their website that's identified this not us...

OP posts:

TitusPullo · 18/02/2021 15:39

I think there has been some confusion between you and the council. If they want the band to go up they will contact you. By contacting them the person you spoke to assumed you were arguing the house should go down a band. I doubt many people ring asking them to go up a band! The council are probably waiting for the land registry notification to come through of a change of owner, it takes some time for land registry to update. Then they will contact you. Until they do I’d just leave it.

radioband · 18/02/2021 15:49

I moved into a rented property that was a band higher than next door, both houses exactly the same. I argued it and they changed it.

titchy · 18/02/2021 15:57

[quote Rubyredroo]@titchy I'm not sure what you mean? There's an indicator on their website to say its had improvements so the banding needs looking at, we emailed them and they said we have to provide evidence that its in the wrong band - it's their website that's identified this not us...[/quote]
Yes they will reassess it. If you think their current assessment or the reassessment is wrong it's up to you to evidence why you disagree, not them.

The flag indicates they will at some point come out to reassess the taxable value given the improvements. It doesn't mean they want you to do that assessment!

tanguero · 18/02/2021 19:51

The whole system is bizarre, as what they are deciding upon is what the market value of your house - with or without improvements - WOULD have been in 1991. The current market value of your house is an irrelevance.

If we are to persist with Council Tax, then, a revaluation - 39 years on - is needed. But what politician will have the balls to argue for this ? There would be winners, and there would be losers. Inevitably the losers will be the ones who will make their voices heard.

Annalou30 · 18/02/2021 20:00

Yes, it’s an historic valuation. Our last house was a band higher than every other in the street. I wanted to argue it but it turned out ours was the only one with a kitchen extension in 1991, therefore is was deemed to be slightly more expensive. If I would have gone through with the request for reassessment there was a chance the rest of the street could have been pushed up. Yeah, wasn’t willing to take that chance!

tanguero · 18/02/2021 20:00

30 years on !

Goatsdorhone · 18/02/2021 20:06

We received a letter shortly after moving in to our house saying it had been rebanded due to improvements. We contested it as while the previous owners had put a new kitchen in there had been no extensions / structural alterations etc. They upheld our appeal and reinstated us to the previous band. I noticed that one other house on the road (sold shortly before we bought our house) had had the same thing happen whereas everyone else on the road (inc people who have done loft conversions etc) were on the original band.

thegcatsmother · 18/02/2021 23:24

tanguero The bandings might be historic, but the amount of CTax has increased ever since it was introduced. I certainly wasn't paying north of £210 a month for CTax when we bought this house in 1992.

We could go back to rates, and have a General Domestic Uprating, which is what Mrs T should have done in 1989, and then been able to provide a direct comparison with Community Charge. There would not have been the moaning about the latter then.

Hallyup5 · 19/02/2021 14:11

Why did you get in contact with the council to query it?! Many houses have improvement indicators to identify houses that should be reassessed on the sale of the property. The only outcome to this is that your band will go up. I'd have kept quiet until they contacted you. Councils do not willingly put council tax bands down. Why would they? It doesn't benefit them.

thegcatsmother · 19/02/2021 23:22

Councils don't put bands down; that is the decision of the Valuation Office Agency, who are part of HMRC.

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