Council tax bands

[Berny]

If I have my house valued will it affect the tax band it is in?

[cobb911]

No, as I understand it the band is based on the value of the house back when bands were set and not what it is worth now.

[gridgway]

In that case, how do they put new houses in council tax bands?

[mycar]

Stop it !

[smallspeed]

they guessed with ours.. ..we were the first people in on the whole estate by about 2 months, and when it came through we disputed it, so they put it down one

[mycar]

[Nige]

Problem solved

[cobb911]

In that case, how do they put new houses in council tax bands?

Guesswork on what the property would have been worth at the time in that area. As smallspeed noted obviously open to error.

[smallspeed]

they did explain it to me - i think it was based on number of bedrooms, post code (for us, this didn't exist previously, hence the guess) purchase price for the year (to try and wipe out inflation I guess), what services we were eligible for from the district council (mkt Harborough, so lots then, none now) and then a bit of a finger-in-the-air fudge-factor on top to pay for the Christmas party..

[Nine One One]

You will find it is done by the Inland Revenue Valuation Office. Most of the time now it is assessed from plans of the ground floor area of the premises, and the number of floors. Then based on similar properties.

It used to be based on the old Rateable Value of a house,i.e. what you could get for it, if it was rented out per month. That then was multiplied by the rate in the pound for whatever the Council Tax was. In effect this rate doubled, or trebled, making the system obsolete. Then Poll Tax came in, and everyone over 18 had to pay the tax, not just one figure for the whole house, getting more funds in..............closely followed by the Poll Tax Riots, IN THE 1980’s. It then got changed to Council Tax.

If you are not happy go onto Zoopla or similar and see what other similar houses are banded in, and if you think it is wrong appeal.
Hope that helps?

[Berny]

But do estate agents, valuers inform the local council or valuation office of values and would a new buyer have to pay more if it came in a higher band?

[Bruce M]

No. Getting a estate agents or surveyor valuation done does not trigger a revaluation for council tax bands.

That would be very unfair.

[SeanP]

When we bought our current abode the local authority came round and revalued for council tax purposes. It appears that the property can only be revalued when a change of ownership takes place and there has been work carried out to enlarge the habitable area, (the loft was converted by the previous owners).

From what I can remember once they have reviewed and advised you of any change in band you have 28 days to appeal their decision.

HTH

Sean