[ot] council tax band increase

[Stephen]

Hello,

I have posted this to the legal.moderated group but thought I would also ask here:

I have received a letter from the valuation office saying that the house I have recently bought has been moved up a band for council tax (from B to C). They say this is because of "improvements made by the previous owner", though it doesn't say what they are.

I presume it is a loft conversion done almost ten years ago. It seems rather mean imposing an increase after a delay of ten years!

Whilst a loft conversion may be an improvement, surely not all improvements justify moving council tax band? For example, if your house was at the bottom of band B, surely an improvement could take it to the middle or top of band B, rather than moving it into band C?

Many of the houses on this street have loft conversions; some have extensions too, so they ought to be worth more and yet they remain in band B.

How do I challenge this?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Chris J Dixon]

Chris

[Allan]

IIRC & IANAL, changes to a house may cause an increase in in tax band, but it doesn't kick in until the next sale/purchase of the house

[Brian-Gaff]

You have just answered your own question, but finding an owner willing to say they are still in the lower band to the council might well be a problem as they will assume what would in fact happen is that they would be moved up as well. I was talking to somebody high yup in the council here, and they told me that there is a lot of work going on at the moment to get houses into the right band, ie higher, so they can claw back some money. You may in the end find you are on a loser here, at least in the long term Google has a lot to answer for!

Brian

[Adrian]

Did the place have an "Improvement Index" flag against the CT band when you were looking at it?

Actually, let me rephrase that. The place would have had an "Improvement Index" flag against it. Did you bother to find that out or understand what it meant as part of your due diligence during the buying process?

Re-banding because of extensions or improvements is only done when the CT payer changes. Always has been since CT was introduced nearly 25 years ago.

Yep. Which is why they use local comparable properties to help them judge how the extension would have revalued it back at 1991 values.

If you bother to read the letter, it tells you how to appeal.

[Adrian]

It isn't the council who determine the bands, but the VOA - an independent national body. And they already know what band every single property in the UK is in.

[michael adams]

Indeed.

"Your property is valued in one of eight property bands for council tax purposes. The band that your property is in is based on its value on 1st April 1991. C

If you make any improvements and alterations, such as building extensions and conservatories which could otherwise increase the value of the property, we will only consider these for council tax purposes if you then sell the property. The new owner would become liable for the increased charge if the property is re-banded. We would also consider such alterations if a complete council tax re-banding took place."

michael adams

...

[sm_jamieson]

Worth bearing in mind when you buy a house if it has had recent alterations. Perhaps the solicitor / conveyancer should tell you about a possible re-banding when they do the "searches".

Simon.

[Adrian]

It takes two seconds to search for yourself.

[John Rumm]

Indeed and that happens as well. When I did a loft conversion, I received formal notification that the CT band was unchanged.

until next time they are sold...

Also if some of those have work that was done without a building notice etc, then that would would be "invisible" from officialdom.

[Bill Wright]

I watched Doc Martin last night. He is seeing a psychologist because his unnecessarily abrasive attitude and downright bad manners suggest the is some sort of psychological issue that he needs to resolve.

Bill

[sm_jamieson]

Ah, they show an "improvement indicator". I wonder how reliable that is. Lo oking that up for my post code all the houses are in the same band. The two with improvement indicators haven't obviously had any more recent improvem ents than the others. I wonder if they applied for any planning permissions that tipped off the council ?

Simon.

[DJC]

Check the council website for past planning permissions.

[Jonno]

Bill Wright scribbled

Doc Martin isn't real you know. The character appears to have Asperger's Syndrome or is Autistic. The likelihood of someone with those disorders becoming a GP are minute.

[Bill Wright]

Well f*ck me drunk. I always thought it was.

Yes, it's a fictional TV programme. But I can still use it to make a point, or to explain a point. Most great literature is fictional but we still use it that way. In the fictional framework the author tells us some truth about ourselves. That's how I was using it. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Bill

[Jonno]

Bill Wright scribbled

No. Perhaps you can explain better via an episode of Noddy...

[Bill Wright]

One morning when Noddy was still in his little bed there was a loud knocking on his little front door. It was Big Ears! His face was bright red and he seemed to be very angry. He came into Noddy's little house in his dirty boots, without Noddy even inviting him, and he stood in the hall saying some words that Noddy had never heard before.

"What on Earth has made you so angry?" asked Noddy over his shoulder, as he stood doing something he needed to do urgently, because he had been down at the Little Boozer the night before and he had drunk a lot of beer. Then he said, to himself, "Ahh, that's better! and he shook the drops off, but some still went on his little pyjama bottoms.

"I'll tell you what's made me so jolly angry!" exclaimed Big Ears. "I've just been looking at the newsgroups and this jolly silly fellow clearly hadn't read the paperwork when he had bought his house! That makes me so mad! Soooo maaaaad!" With that he rushed in Noddy's little kitchen and picked up the big meat cleaver that Noddy used when he had some roadkill.

"I say Big Ears!" exclaimed Noddy. "Be careful with that, old chap! It's rather sharp!" But it was too late and Big Ears swung the cleaver round and chopped Noddy's head completely off! There was rather a mess, with blood everywhere. What will Noddy's little cleaning lady say?

Later that day some policemen took Big Ears to the little Prison, but after a few days he was let off as long as he went on an anger management course. Unfortunately no-one thought to stop Big Ears calling at a cleaver shop on his way to the course.

So you see boys and girls, never let silly people on the newsgroups wind you up.

Enid

[Tim+]

Ha! There speaks someone who's never trained as a doctor. As someone who has, I can assure you that weirdos DO go through the system (and graduate).

Tim

[Chris French]

As someone who is married to a doctor I'd have to agree.

Certainly seem to be plenty of doctors with autistic tendencies, though I suspect they don't tend to end up as GP's so much, more likely surgeons :-)

[Jonno]

Bill Wright scribbled

Excellent. I knew that if you put your mind to it, you'd succeed. Trouble is, I will be looking at your "this just happened to me", posts in a different light in future.