The 1991 taxing system saw the council rushing to put a value on houses across England, Wales and Scotland. In their rush to value the houses, the council placed houses in various council tax bands by simply looking at the house. This, however, saw some house owners paying council tax outside the actual council tax band. It is for this reason that you may ask yourself, is it possible to lower my council tax band? The answer to this question is yes.
How to lower your council tax band
You can lowertax band by doing the following;
You may find that you and your neighbor are paying different council tax bands even when your houses look the same. It is for this reason that it is advisable for you to establish what your neighbor is paying. You can simply do this by doing an online check. For those living in Wales and England, you can look at the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) website, while those living in Scotland should look at the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) to determine the value. Look at the bands of both you and your neighbors. Note the sizes of both houses and whether they are close in value and size. It is possible not to find your neighbor’s house on the website and you can consider asking your neighbor about their tax band if that is the case. The information you get can help you lower your council tax band.
You canlower the council tax band of your house by doing a valuation check of your house. This is good if especially if your house was valued in 1991; since it helps you see the true value of your house. However, if you had bought the house after the 1991 valuation, you can use the buying price and the date of sale to help you get the correct value your house. There are also websites like Nethouseprices and RightMove that can help you value your house. Doing this helps you estimate which council tax band your house falls in.
Once you have proven that you are not in the right band, you should visit your council office and inform them of your discovery and why you think you do not belong to yuor current tax band. Thereafter, you could also choose to make an appeal to the council by visiting the websites of the VOA or theSAA. For proof, you can have a local assessor to help you with your case.
It is important to note that your neighbor maybe in a lower council tax band because they are not in the righttax band. Pointing this out to the council can cause problems between you and your neighbor. It is for this reason that it is good to involve your neighbor in the process if you are both in different council tax bands. You will also find that you and your neighbor are in different council tax bands because of a simple change in your housing structure. Have this in mind when looking to lower your council tax band.
