I challenged my council tax band and it saved me HUNDREDS – here's how

I challenged my council tax band and it saved me HUNDREDS – here's how

04/14/2022

MUM-of-one Melanie Garraway managed to save HUNDREDS of pounds on her council tax bill by challenging her band.

Melanie, 35, from Leadenham, Lincolnshire, received a letter from her local council in January 2020 which said her council tax band was to be re-evaluated.

Council tax bands determine how much you’ll have to fork out for the bill each year, and it is based on the value of your home in 1991.

Band A represents the lowest value of a home, while band H in England and Scotland and band I in Wales represents the highest value.

The size of your home is just one factor that is used to decide how much tax you should pay.

If a property increases in size, with an extension for example, it may move to a higher band when it is sold on to another buyer.

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Council tax bands in England are based on the value of your property in 1991. 

The previous owners of Melanie's home had extended the property since that date, adding space above the garage and on the ground floor to the back of the house.

As the property grew in size, it prompted the council to take another look at its banding, when Melanie and her husband moved in back in 2019.

After an investigation, North Kesteven District Council told Melanie she would be going up two bands from a C to an E as of March 2020.

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It meant her council tax bill would rocket from £1,652.13 a year to £2,330.54 – a massive increase of more than 40%, or £678.

As first-time buyers who were new to the property game, Melanie and her husband had no idea that extensions done by the previous owners could be an issue when it came to their council tax bill.

“We were extremely worried,” she said. “We had a one-year-old baby at that time, so budgeting for everything was complex anyway.”

The rocketing rate spurred Melanie on to challenge her council tax band in a bid to get hers changed back and avoid the hike.

Anyone can challenge their council tax band – but it takes a bit of research and there's no guarantee you'll be successful. It could even backfire and get you moved to a higher band.

To challenge your band, you have to contact the Valuation Office Agency if you live in England or Wales – or the Scottish Assessors Association if you live in Scotland.

These bodies decide which council tax band each home should be in.

“I looked online at properties down our street to see what their council tax band was, and if mine was higher,” Melanie said.

“Every other property on our street was either in band C or D.

“As there’s not much difference between our house and our neighbours’, I couldn’t see why ours was so high.”

When she called the VOA, a valuation officer told her that the size of her property can affect how much of the tax you pay.

“The valuation officer said our property was logged as being 234 square metres in size.

“But I checked the old sales brochure for the house, and it was listed at 136 square metres.

“Because we had done up our home when we moved in, we also had all the measurements of the house to hand.

“So when we appealed our new banding, we submitted all of this information to the VOA.

“If we hadn’t have had all this detail, I reckon it would have been a much harder battle to get our bill lowered.”

The VOA looked at the family’s band again, and moved the property down to band D.

Although this meant their council tax bill was still £254 more than they had originally expected to pay, it marked a £424 saving compared to being in the higher band E.

Melanie is glad she challenged her council tax band when she did – especially as millions of families are struggling to pay for rising bills and prices due to a cost of living crisis.

She said: “With bills going up like energy, electric – it makes a big difference.

"You can live more comfortably, you don’t have to worry about the bill.”

How to challenge your council tax band

Few people realise that the size of your property can affect your council tax band, particularly if previous owners have carried out renovations.

Resolver consumer expert Martyn James said this little-known issue should be made clearer to new homeowners.

"It’s desperately important that the way council tax bandings are set should be updated to be fit for today’s use," he said.

"It needs to be made much clearer how people can appeal decisions which they don’t think are fair."

To challenge your council tax, you first need to find out what band you are in.

You can find this out by checking with your local authority or on the postcode checker.

Use the council tax band checker tool to see which band properties along your street are in.

If they are in a lower band than you are, you could successfully make a challenge and get yours lowered.

What next?

Contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in England and Wales or the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in Scotland to do this.

Collect evidence showing you're paying more – this could be having addresses of similar properties to yours in a lower band, for example.

If the VOA agrees that your property is in the wrong band, it will contact you to let you know your band will be changed.

It can take up to two months for the VOA to review your case.

But be warned – challenging your band might not work.

While you could get moved to a lower band and pay less, there's also the chance the VOA could find you're not paying enough.

This could mean you're moved to a higher band – and your neighbours' too.

If you disagree with the VOA's ruling, you can appeal your case – but only if you've been told that you can when you get the decision.

You must appeal within three months of your decision – to do this, get in touch with the Valuation Tribunal Service.

If the Valuation Tribunal agrees with you, it will get the VOA to change your band – and your bill will change.

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If you're moved to a lower band, you'll get a refund of council tax going back to the date you moved into the property.

But if you're moved to a higher band, you'll start paying an increased rate of council tax straight away.

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