Coundil tax re-banding
Discussion
So I had a not so lovely visit from a council assessor chappy on Friday. As a bit of history we purchased the house at the end of February and through the council, the home report etc, we thought the house was happily sitting in Band D.
Now apparently, and this wasn't something we were made aware of, because the previous owners have added a small extension to the living room and an attached garage this changes the banding. Although they weren't liable to pay an increase, as soon as the house is sold the new owners are liable to pay for this increase.
I have spent a good while googling things because obviously I would love to appeal this, or find a reason to appeal this. My question more than anything is whether or not the garage is considered within in the square footage calculations of the house. Normally if buying or selling you would possibly include a separate figure for the garage but never have it included in the square footage of the house's "living space".
As the vast majority of the change in square footage and hence the council tax banding increase was in the new garage, and as I see it as not being 'living space' do I have grounds to appeal?
Now apparently, and this wasn't something we were made aware of, because the previous owners have added a small extension to the living room and an attached garage this changes the banding. Although they weren't liable to pay an increase, as soon as the house is sold the new owners are liable to pay for this increase.
I have spent a good while googling things because obviously I would love to appeal this, or find a reason to appeal this. My question more than anything is whether or not the garage is considered within in the square footage calculations of the house. Normally if buying or selling you would possibly include a separate figure for the garage but never have it included in the square footage of the house's "living space".
As the vast majority of the change in square footage and hence the council tax banding increase was in the new garage, and as I see it as not being 'living space' do I have grounds to appeal?
Under the old system; rateable value. A garage would increase the rateable value so, at a guess, would say the same applies to the new system. Have you had a look at the Money Saving Expert web-site?
SimonV8ster said:
It has nothing to do with the garage and adding square footage to the house, etc, - its whether after the improvements (whatever they are) it increases the value of the house to put it into another band.
Having spoken to someone who works for the valuation office, this is correct.. If the house value was on the cusp of moving from band D to E when it was last valued, it is wholly feasible that the small addition of value overall will move it into the higher band.
If you wish to appeal, you'll need to find a comparable property locally that you can prove has not had a re-band or has had a successful appeal.
You can search the database here : http://www.voa.gov.uk/
HTH,
slinky
RichTbiscuit said:
So I had a not so lovely visit from a council assessor chappy on Friday. As a bit of history we purchased the house at the end of February and through the council, the home report etc, we thought the house was happily sitting in Band D.
Now apparently, and this wasn't something we were made aware of, because the previous owners have added a small extension to the living room and an attached garage this changes the banding. Although they weren't liable to pay an increase, as soon as the house is sold the new owners are liable to pay for this increase.
I have spent a good while googling things because obviously I would love to appeal this, or find a reason to appeal this. My question more than anything is whether or not the garage is considered within in the square footage calculations of the house. Normally if buying or selling you would possibly include a separate figure for the garage but never have it included in the square footage of the house's "living space".
As the vast majority of the change in square footage and hence the council tax banding increase was in the new garage, and as I see it as not being 'living space' do I have grounds to appeal?
Unlucky.Now apparently, and this wasn't something we were made aware of, because the previous owners have added a small extension to the living room and an attached garage this changes the banding. Although they weren't liable to pay an increase, as soon as the house is sold the new owners are liable to pay for this increase.
I have spent a good while googling things because obviously I would love to appeal this, or find a reason to appeal this. My question more than anything is whether or not the garage is considered within in the square footage calculations of the house. Normally if buying or selling you would possibly include a separate figure for the garage but never have it included in the square footage of the house's "living space".
As the vast majority of the change in square footage and hence the council tax banding increase was in the new garage, and as I see it as not being 'living space' do I have grounds to appeal?
Worth an appeal, but as someone with a job and legal tender, you'll get fisted.
SimonV8ster said:
Why would you get fisted ? Fill in an appeal form - it costs you nothing. Wait for the VOA to defend their decision, its up to them to prove to you its right, not for you to prove its incorrect.
Their decision WILL be upheld.As a solvent law abiding person, you will have to pay.
Slinky said:
SimonV8ster said:
It has nothing to do with the garage and adding square footage to the house, etc, - its whether after the improvements (whatever they are) it increases the value of the house to put it into another band.
Having spoken to someone who works for the valuation office, this is correct.. If the house value was on the cusp of moving from band D to E when it was last valued, it is wholly feasible that the small addition of value overall will move it into the higher band.
If you wish to appeal, you'll need to find a comparable property locally that you can prove has not had a re-band or has had a successful appeal.
You can search the database here : http://www.voa.gov.uk/
HTH,
slinky
I think I've gotten a handle on the situation now. Looking at it comparatively, my house was purchased for a similar price to a lot of my neighbours despite the houses not being of the same design.
Back-calculating the cost that I bought it for to the 1991 Q2 period during which all the council tax banding was set up I am actually now at the higher end of the Band E valuation. When the assessor was round and he was showing me the justification for his decision he was basing a lot of it on the square footage of the houses. With the garage and the living room extension this now takes the value and square footage of the house in line with other properties in my street. It looks like before this review we were the exception rather than the rule and that a lot of the other similar properties are also band E rather than D.
As far as they are concerned, similar square footage equals similar value and therefore similar banding.
Back-calculating the cost that I bought it for to the 1991 Q2 period during which all the council tax banding was set up I am actually now at the higher end of the Band E valuation. When the assessor was round and he was showing me the justification for his decision he was basing a lot of it on the square footage of the houses. With the garage and the living room extension this now takes the value and square footage of the house in line with other properties in my street. It looks like before this review we were the exception rather than the rule and that a lot of the other similar properties are also band E rather than D.
As far as they are concerned, similar square footage equals similar value and therefore similar banding.
That will be it, the VO forgets that when buying houses we dont work out what they cost per square foot! We make judgements, the easy ones being the number of rooms, the more difficult ones being the size of those rooms, location etc.
So if you house has less rooms than the others it might be worth a go etc.
So if you house has less rooms than the others it might be worth a go etc.
Chrisgr31 said:
It has everything to do with adding the garage and increasing the square footage of the property. Basically domestic properties are valued on a per square foot basis. So if you property is valued at £1,000 per sq m and you increase the floor area by 20 sq m then the value will go up by £20,000. Garages will be valued at a fixed rate, maybe with a variation if they are larger or smaller than the average.
He was saying that would the square footage of the garage now be included in the living space square footage - which it wouldn't.People get caught up on the number of rooms/square footage/whether it has views/bla bla bla questions ..........
Its 'What is it worth at a particular date as compared to other properties in a similar area' and what Band would it therefore fall into.
Part of the banding depends upon the valuation of the house as well as the size. If, for example, you were to but a house in a bad state of repair, you could legitimately argue that the value at purchase was in a lower banding. Even if you were to improve the house, then the banding could not be increased until the house was sold on again. The banding is based upon purchase price so if the price you paid would have put it into band D, then that gives you grounds for appeal on this basis (especially if there are any other houses in the area of similar value still in band D.
cpas said:
If, for example, you were to but a house in a bad state of repair, you could legitimately argue that the value at purchase was in a lower banding.
Tosh. If somebody has let a house fall into a bad state of repair then more fool them. Thats their choice. Lets all let our homes fall into a bad state of repair so we can get a cheaper CT band ??!! Brilliant !!When banding 22 million properties certain assumptions have to be made - the first being that the proprty is in a reasonable state of repair
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