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Original poster

Anyone successfully got their council tax re-banded to a lower band

42 replies

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 19:12

I've just bought a house and the council tax is a band higher than the rental we were living in, a few streets away. The rented house was bigger and a period property and valued higher than ours so got me thinking something is off. So I looked at other nearby streets, house prices and council tax band and all the houses on the nearby streets are higher value properties (because they are period, ours is not) than our house but are a band lower for council tax.
I briefly spoke to someone at the council about it and they said invited me to challenge it but warned me that it could lead to all the other houses on my street being reassessed (why does this seem threatening?). Now, the house opposite has two more bedrooms than my house so their council tax would certainly go up. Not really the welcome to the street I want to do to them. So I'm mulling it over.
Anyway, had anyone got their council tax reduced? How much of an arse was the process and do you know if the other houses on your street were 'investigated'?!

OP posts:
flashbac · 03/11/2021 19:15

What band are you in now? Do you have a bigger garden or something like that?

Watto1 · 03/11/2021 19:17

I did but we are talking 20 years ago now. I paid no further council tax for the rest of the year and had a nice cheque! The process was simple and I’m not aware of anyone else’s council tax band changing as a result of me challenging mine.

Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 19:19

I'm band D. No, not a bigger garden. It's the same as the houses on my close but much smaller than the properties on the surrounding roads.
I don't think number of bedrooms and size of garden etc actually matter. It goes off house value from what I've read.

OP posts:
flashbac · 03/11/2021 19:27

What band are the similar sized houses on your street in?

Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 19:29

C. Even the one with two more bedrooms

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flashbac · 03/11/2021 19:34

@PraiseBee

C. Even the one with two more bedrooms
Were the bedrooms added after purchase by the current owners?
Sparechange · 03/11/2021 19:35

I challenged ours but under slightly different circumstances

We bought from someone who did a loft conversation to add an extra bedroom

The council used the building control process to add a marker to properties - if they know you’ve extended, they’ll make a note to revalue it, but are only allowed to do it when the house is sold

So when we bought it, they revalued it and bumped it up a band, but we argued that lots of other houses had been revalued and kept at the same band after similar work.

If they revalue other houses on the street, would it only kick in if the house is sold?
So the existing owner wouldn’t have a higher bill but if they sell it, the new owners would?
So their guilt trip isn’t a real threat…

Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 19:35

Yes they were

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Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 19:36

[quote flashbac]www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/property/martin-lewis-warns-thousands-homes-22040230[/quote]
Thank you

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Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 19:40

But it's not the just house opposite. All the houses in the area which are valued higher than ours are a lower tax band. My only concern is that if I challenge it, the neighbour opposite may have their band increased

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Amundo · 03/11/2021 19:42

We had ours reduced a band but back in 2007. It's based on values decades ago, not values now, unless it has changed. Ours was a no brainer. Our ndn with an identical house was a band lower. As were several other houses of the same build round the corner. Initially they refused. Then we had a letter saying they'd changed their mind. What irked me was my friend a few streets away had a much bigger and more valuable house and was on the same band as us. There is no fairness with it. I think we just stated our case in a letter from memory. Look at neighbours and see what similar homes are banded at. If they do agree you get a back dated payment.

Amundo · 03/11/2021 19:44

Would it not be a data protection breach to tell the neighbour they're being rebanded because of you?

Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 19:53

@Amundo

Would it not be a data protection breach to tell the neighbour they're being rebanded because of you?
The road we've moved into is very small and it would be very obvious it was us. I might ask the previous owners if they've ever questioned the band
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TheLette · 03/11/2021 19:55

Yes, successfully challenged. Moved to a new bed flat in an area of London which in 1990 (or whatever the date was for council tax banding purposes) was very scuzzy and considered dangerous. Fast forward 20 years and it's super buzzy and fashionable. However that's irrelevant for council tax banding. I suspected the banding was too high. So what I did was submit a Freedom of Information request asking for the banding of all one bedroom flats in the first 4 letters of my postcode. They get back to me to tell me exactly 100 one bed flats are in my band, with no other flats in higher bands. Guess what ? There were exactly 100 one bed flats in the development, so it was very much a case of "gotcha" when I then raised an appeal. My argument was "so you are saying that had these flats existed in 1990, they would be worth more than every other one bed flat in the area?". I won the challenge and all the other flats in the building got rebanded too. Shame they didn't know it was me to be honest, I reckon I deserved a bottle of wine or something for my efforts!

BackBackBack · 03/11/2021 19:58

Yes but it was over 13 years ago. New development and it was really obvious we had been banded too high. Wrote to the council and asked them to confirm the bandings for similar sized properties in the next street. When they provided this, we used this as evidence they'd put us in the wrong band.

BlueMongoose · 03/11/2021 20:21

Two 'more' bedrooms than you, and they are band 'C'? How many bedrooms do you have? Just one? If two or more, I'd have thought most 4-bedroom houses would be band D at least.

WhatsWrongWithMyUsername · 03/11/2021 20:27

How new is your house? I’m pretty sure they band new build houses higher than equivalent sized older houses (even though sales value similar). I looked for ours but couldn’t find a comparable enough example.

GerardWay123 · 03/11/2021 20:35

I did it a couple of years ago but knew which neighbours had the same house layout and they were in a band lower. I did worry that it might backfire on my neighbours but bit the bullet. We got a substantial refund and put on what should have been our council tax band. It took a few hours sorting it out but was worth it.

ANutAsBigAsABoulder · 03/11/2021 20:37

Just to add, councils don’t decide which banding homes go in, it’s the national Valuation Office Agency that does it. The VOA then tell councils which band rate to charge. Totally out of council’s hands. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/valuation-office-agency

Needaholiday101 · 03/11/2021 20:45

We used a company that called round, could probably have done it ourselves but they were successful in the band being lowered and received a refund of approx £1800 but we did pay a percentage then to the company.

Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 21:03

@TheLette

Yes, successfully challenged. Moved to a new bed flat in an area of London which in 1990 (or whatever the date was for council tax banding purposes) was very scuzzy and considered dangerous. Fast forward 20 years and it's super buzzy and fashionable. However that's irrelevant for council tax banding. I suspected the banding was too high. So what I did was submit a Freedom of Information request asking for the banding of all one bedroom flats in the first 4 letters of my postcode. They get back to me to tell me exactly 100 one bed flats are in my band, with no other flats in higher bands. Guess what ? There were exactly 100 one bed flats in the development, so it was very much a case of "gotcha" when I then raised an appeal. My argument was "so you are saying that had these flats existed in 1990, they would be worth more than every other one bed flat in the area?". I won the challenge and all the other flats in the building got rebanded too. Shame they didn't know it was me to be honest, I reckon I deserved a bottle of wine or something for my efforts!
Not all heroes wear capes Grin
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Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 21:06

@WhatsWrongWithMyUsername

How new is your house? I’m pretty sure they band new build houses higher than equivalent sized older houses (even though sales value similar). I looked for ours but couldn’t find a comparable enough example.
My house was built late 80s. My road is a very small cul-de-sac of 80s houses and are the odd ones out. All the nearby houses are period properties and have larger gardens and internal sq fts. So therefore are valued higher.
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Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 21:08

@BlueMongoose

Two 'more' bedrooms than you, and they are band 'C'? How many bedrooms do you have? Just one? If two or more, I'd have thought most 4-bedroom houses would be band D at least.
We are a three bed semi band D. Opposite is a five bed semi band C. Same layout downstairs, same garden size and parking provision. All houses of a similar in the area valued lower, the same or higher than ours are a C.
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Original poster
PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 21:09

[quote ANutAsBigAsABoulder]Just to add, councils don’t decide which banding homes go in, it’s the national Valuation Office Agency that does it. The VOA then tell councils which band rate to charge. Totally out of council’s hands. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/valuation-office-agency[/quote]
Good to know! The council must know and be able to provide the figures the VOA advise to use in my area.

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