Page 2 | Anyone successfully got their council tax re-banded to a lower band

CarpeVitam · 03/11/2021 21:15

@PraiseBee

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'?!

Yes, we were successful, eventually. The council disputed our claim so we went to Tribunal and won 👍

thegcatsmother · 03/11/2021 21:31

Go here: www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands to see what band any domestic property which is banded is in.

The possibility of your neighbours banding being raised isn't a threat, but the need to maintain accuracy and consistency. It is not disclosed which property brought the original challenge.

You can also search on gov.uk for the Council Tax manual which is the technical manual used to train valuers.

Hope that helps.

JeremiahStanding · 03/11/2021 21:47

On the council website is the house opposite due for re-banding on sale of the property? It will have a marker next to it ie it was a 3 bed semi, they added more bedrooms with an extension so it would be looked at when the house is sold and the new owner gets the increased band.

I used to work in council tax but in the late 90s so we had lots of challenges to banding via the VOA due to drive by banding ie drive past a street, they all look like 3 bed semi detached so C band. A 3 bed detached new build was a D band and the D band is the one they work all the other ones off percentage wise for what people pay (it used to be anyway).

We worked by alphabetical street names and my colleague had the awful task of re-issuing bills for a band increase for everyone in the street when one person questioned their band. VOA realised that one was correct and the rest were wrong so increased the banding. Cue some awful phone calls.

Do some research before you pull the trigger on this, not saying you are not right to question it but hopefully it is just yours that is wrong.

Original poster

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 21:54

@JeremiahStanding

On the council website is the house opposite due for re-banding on sale of the property? It will have a marker next to it ie it was a 3 bed semi, they added more bedrooms with an extension so it would be looked at when the house is sold and the new owner gets the increased band.

I used to work in council tax but in the late 90s so we had lots of challenges to banding via the VOA due to drive by banding ie drive past a street, they all look like 3 bed semi detached so C band. A 3 bed detached new build was a D band and the D band is the one they work all the other ones off percentage wise for what people pay (it used to be anyway).

We worked by alphabetical street names and my colleague had the awful task of re-issuing bills for a band increase for everyone in the street when one person questioned their band. VOA realised that one was correct and the rest were wrong so increased the banding. Cue some awful phone calls.

Do some research before you pull the trigger on this, not saying you are not right to question it but hopefully it is just yours that is wrong.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am nervous about pulling the trigger as your say as my opposite neighbour would certainly get an increased bill if the other houses were looked at on my road. But apart from them I don't think other houses will increase because it's literally my entire neighborhood! The houses are mostly a similar size and value and all a band lower than me. Could I become responsible for increasing the council tax for a few thousand people?!?!

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Original poster

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 22:09

@JeremiahStanding

On the council website is the house opposite due for re-banding on sale of the property? It will have a marker next to it ie it was a 3 bed semi, they added more bedrooms with an extension so it would be looked at when the house is sold and the new owner gets the increased band.

I used to work in council tax but in the late 90s so we had lots of challenges to banding via the VOA due to drive by banding ie drive past a street, they all look like 3 bed semi detached so C band. A 3 bed detached new build was a D band and the D band is the one they work all the other ones off percentage wise for what people pay (it used to be anyway).

We worked by alphabetical street names and my colleague had the awful task of re-issuing bills for a band increase for everyone in the street when one person questioned their band. VOA realised that one was correct and the rest were wrong so increased the banding. Cue some awful phone calls.

Do some research before you pull the trigger on this, not saying you are not right to question it but hopefully it is just yours that is wrong.

Ok so yes the house opposite does have an improvement indicator marked for it. So do you know what would that mean if I challenged my council tax now?

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PlanDeRaccordement · 03/11/2021 22:13

@PraiseBee

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

If U.K. taxman is anything like the French ones, it is likely that if you challenge, your neighbours will be put up a band and you will stay at same band. They’re not going to anything that results in less tax collected from you.

Original poster

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 22:14

Surely can't increase an entire neighborhood. It would be thousands of houses.

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Original poster

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 22:14

@PraiseBee

Surely can't increase an entire neighborhood. It would be thousands of houses.

Well hundreds of houses, thousands of people.

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Noseylittlemoo · 03/11/2021 22:14

I am also interested in this. We have recently moved to a 2 bed cottage with a CT band of E! Virtually all the other properties in the street (and most of the village ) are band D. The main difference is that ours is semi detached and many of the other properties are terraced but they are all of virtually the same floor space and lots of the terraces that have sold recently were priced higher than ours.

Original poster

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 22:20

@Noseylittlemoo

I am also interested in this. We have recently moved to a 2 bed cottage with a CT band of E! Virtually all the other properties in the street (and most of the village ) are band D. The main difference is that ours is semi detached and many of the other properties are terraced but they are all of virtually the same floor space and lots of the terraces that have sold recently were priced higher than ours.

What the....do you have south facing garden?! Maybe that's my problem

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ArnoldBee · 03/11/2021 22:22

My parents house was re banded on an estate of hundreds of houses as they were all the same - much yo my parents delight.
I had one of my old houses re banded much to my neighbours delight as they had council tax arrears. You need to work out what the property and others were worth in 1995 as that's the data they use for banding.

Original poster

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 22:24

@ArnoldBee

My parents house was re banded on an estate of hundreds of houses as they were all the same - much yo my parents delight. I had one of my old houses re banded much to my neighbours delight as they had council tax arrears. You need to work out what the property and others were worth in 1995 as that's the data they use for banding.

Surely they must use a modern equivalent to the 1990s figures? Especially for properties that have been extended.

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JoeMaplin · 03/11/2021 22:30

Yes I tried myself when I found out a much extended house in our road was a band less!, it got refused. A while later I was approached by one of those companies who'll do it for you, thought well let them give it a go. They got it reduced which was well worth it as it came down significantly each month (live SE) and got about 10 year back payment. I have to pay company 25% i think of back payment, which I figured worth it as id already tried and been refused.

Original poster

PraiseBee · 03/11/2021 22:42

@JoeMaplin

Yes I tried myself when I found out a much extended house in our road was a band less!, it got refused. A while later I was approached by one of those companies who'll do it for you, thought well let them give it a go. They got it reduced which was well worth it as it came down significantly each month (live SE) and got about 10 year back payment. I have to pay company 25% i think of back payment, which I figured worth it as id already tried and been refused.

That's interesting! Glad it worked out for you. Do you know if the extended house got theirs changed?

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Imisscheese · 03/11/2021 23:13

Yes, I phoned them up. Our house was smaller than the other detached houses on the road and the same category. They asked how many bedrooms and bathrooms it had and then wrote to us saying they had moved it down. It had more in common with the semi-detached on the street in terms of size etc. than the other detached houses it was valued with.

Noseylittlemoo · 04/11/2021 07:09

@PraiseBee no our garden faces north! Tbh I think the whole CT system is a bit nuts. It's seems crazy that a modest 2 bed cottage in an average area is priced at one of the highest tiers when likely only 2-3 people are using the services it pays for ...but that's another thread entirely!

GOODCAT · 04/11/2021 13:33

I did. Bought a house in band D. Council changed band to E as soon as I bought. No real reason as no improvement marker (and no improvements either). I appealed and lost.

Neighbouring property, which was the same as ours but had been extended, changed hands and it remained band D. I got a copy of a previous conveyance on their property which showed that property had changed hands for band D value within six months of the original council tax valuations in the early 90s. I appealed informally again and got told three times the properties were not comparable. I then took photos of both properties and the council finally accepted it and visited. They put my banding back down to band D.

The problem you might have is if your property is more modern it may have had a higher value when originally built and valued compared to now. Definitely don't give up.

Also if your neighbours are in a higher band they should be paying more, but why should you pay more if you are in the wrong band.