Council Tax Rebanding

In ten minutes, at no cost, you can check ‘n’ challenge your council tax band, potentially slashing what you pay now and getting a backdated rebate to when the system started in 1993. Thousands have already tried this and many succeeded in getting £1,000s back. And as rates have increased by an average 3% across England this year, it's the perfect time to check.

You may be overpaying without knowing

Many homes are in the wrong council tax band, and have been since 1991. Back then, the Tory government was trembling after the poll tax riots and was desperately awaiting the 1993 launch of the new council tax system. Yet it needed every house in the land to assessed and put in a valuation band. So, it outsourced the job to estate agents and others.

2nd gear evaluations

You probably imagine some duffle coated chap actually went into houses and said things like “two bedrooms? Is that one en suite?” but it was nothing of the kind. They had so many homes to assess, there was only one solution.

They sent people out in pairs, got in cars, and drove down countless streets, allocating each property a band with just a glance. Not only did they never get out, in the industry it became known as “second gear valuations” as they never even stopped the cars.

Even though this system was patently just a short cut; scandalously no government since 1991 has arranged any revaluation in England and Scotland, though the Welsh assembly has done it for all homes there. This leaves that flawed old valuation still dictating your band, which is why you could be paying more than your neighbour even though you live in exactly the SAME size house.

How are council tax bills worked out?

How much council tax you pay depends on your property's banding; a letter from A to H which depends on the value of your home in 1991. Individual councils then annually decide the amounts that should be payable for band B and D, with all the other bands then calculated proportionally.

Thus, it's possible you and a friend both have band C properties, yet as you live in Weston-Super-Mare you pay more than they do in Warrington. To compare your council tax with the UK average go to Upmystreet.

How much can you expect to get?

This is no chicken feed solution. Get your banding decreased and as well as paying £100 - £200 less each year, the repayment should be backdated to when you moved into the property; as far back as when the tax started in 1993. Here’s a few examples of some MoneySavers’ success stories:

• One phone call to drop a band.

  “I was in a band D and after comparing, thought that to be quite excessive. I called the local listings officer and after a long discussion he just said, ‘yep, I agree with you, you're now a C'. I can't believe how easy it was; he even said it would be backdated to April 1993!”

• A dropped band and backdated payout:

  MoneySaver Susan47 e-mailed to say, “We successfully followed the system and appealed against our council tax banding; half our street was band E and the rest band F, yet the houses are around the same in value. They sent someone to re-evaluate our house within a fortnight. We were reclassified to an E and got a cheque for over £2,000!”

• Overnight £1,500 saved.

  “I telephoned my local Valuation Office as I'd discovered that my neighbour has a lower band then me, yet the house is exactly the same. They reduced my banding almost overnight, and today, almost six weeks later they've put £1,500 - yes £1,500 - into my bank account.”

Read how others fared

If you've succeeded please report your council tax cashback successes and if you're new, do feel free to read others' stories there. A Sunday Telegraph report in May 2009 suggested over 130,000 have had their band lowered using this system in the three years since it was launched.

Step 1: The Neighbours Check

By far the most important step is to find out if your band’s higher than neighbours' in similar or identical properties. While you could simply ask them, there’s no need. The band of every house in England, Wales & Scotland is public info via the following websites.

IMPORTANT! These websites struggle in high demand periods but join the free weekly email and I’ll tell you when they’re up and running again

• In England and Wales use the Valuation Office Agency (VOA)
• In Scotland use the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA)

So first check your band, and then your neighbours'. Do ensure the properties are as close as possible in size and value though. Sadly, the sheer scale of the database means a few properties are missed off it, if that happens either speak to neighbours directly or contact the council and ask why.

If neighbours in similar properties are in a lower band than you… then you may have a claim.

STEP 2: The Valuation Check

A useful second check is to calculate what your home was worth in 1991 (or 2003 in Wales), as the council tax bands depends on that. This is the fun bit, because you get to legally spy on what your neighbour's houses were bought/sold for. There are three parts to this check:

• Value your house on free house price sites.

  Go to Nethouseprices, which gives a free search of the prices of all houses sold in your street since 2000. Find the most recent sale price of a similar property to yours (or even the price you bought yours for), in your street. Now note down both the PRICE and the DATE OF SALE.

  For alternative tools to help read the full free house price valuations article.

• Now, calculate your house’s value at 1991 levels.

  Take the PRICE and DATE OF SALE from the first part and use it to work out what your house would've been worth in 1991 as that’s what council tax bands depend on.

  To do this go to the Nationwide House Price Calculator. This is actually designed for people to put in their house price when they bought it, and work out what it's worth now. Yet it is possible to use it in reverse to get a rough value back in 1991.

  How to get the calculator to do it A. Scroll down the page to the calculator B. In ‘Property value' note the sales PRICE from earlier C. In ‘Valuation date 1' enter the DATE OF SALE from earlier (do ensure you put down which quarter of the year it was). D. In Valuation date 2' enter 1991, and Q2 E. Select your region from the drop down list F. Click ‘calculate the results’

  
  
  

  The results, rather strangely, appear just above the calculator.

  E.g. it will say,

  “A property located in North West which was valued at £170,000 in Q4 of 2007, would be worth approximately £59,608 in Q2 of 1991. This is equivalent to a change of -64.94%.”

• Compare it to council tax bands

  This gives you a rough idea of your house’s value in 1991 prices; now compare this to the actual bandings, to see what banding you should be in. Do remember as this is only a very rough indication of your house’s 1991 value, it’s a safety check more than anything else.

  Council Tax Bands at 1991 Property Value

  Band	ENGLAND 1991 Property Value	SCOTLAND 1991 Property Value
  A	All properties under £40,000	All properties under £27,000
  B	£40,001 - £52,000	£27,001 - £35,000
  C	£52,001 - £68,000	£35,001 - £45,000
  D	£68,001 - £88,000	£45,001 - £58,000
  E	£88,001 - £120,000	£58,001 - £80,000
  F	£120,001 - £160,000	£80,001 - £106,000
  G	£160,001 - £320,000	£106,001 - £212,000
  H	over £320,000	Over £212,000

Step 3: Are you in the wrong band?

At this point, I need to throw in a serious warning. Challenging your banding involves asking for a 'reassessment', there’s no way to just ask for a 'decrease', so be warned there's a chance your band may increase, or even your neighbours could (though this is incredibly rare).

Thus be very sure you've done the checks and research, don't just do a speculative challenge; and be especially careful if you’ve added an extension or something that increases your property's value. Use the table to see how strong your case is to help you decide if it’s worth it.

By far the most important check is the Neighbours' Check… thus the table below will show how strong your case is.

Step 4: Challenge your banding

If you’re convinced that your property band's unfair, call or write to:

• In England and Wales; your Local Listing Officer
• In Scotland; your Local Assessor

You'll be told how your band was decided, and have the opportunity to explain why you believe it is wrong and how it should be altered. Alternatively, you can appeal online via the VOA or SAA.

There is an official list (England and Wales only, for Scotland contact your Local Assessor) of the reasons for re-valuation and, where possible when challenging the banding, you should cite one of those reasons; yet do include the fact that “my neighbour in a similar property is in a lower band.” It's far easier if you've moved within the last six months, as then there's an official process.

Remember the ‘valuation check’ is more a safety check before doing the challenge. It got very limited value in your appeal. However, if you source actual sales prices from around 1991, that’s stronger evidence.

Many people get told they can't appeal, as they've been in the property more than six months. If this happens to you, don't worry, its common and there's a way round it.

That rule is simply a stanard procedure, yet more importantly the Local Listings Office has a legal duty to ensure all properties bands are correct, and that means, if pushed it should investigate your representations and alter the Valuation List if it believes it's required. This also applies if your re-valuation reason isn't on the official list (explained at the bottom of this VOA page).

There fore if you get told you can't appeal, write a letter politely explaining, "I am writing to tell you I believe the council tax banding list of my property is incorrect, my house is in the wrong band, and I ask that you investigate that it is corrected." This has and does work, though can need some perserverence. See the council tax successes thread for details of many people who've pushed through this.

If your appeal's rejected

If you challenged your banding and your enquiry was rejected, there are some grounds for appeal. Yet remember the check ‘n’ challenge isn’t a guaranteed system. The two checks are a strong indication that you should consider challenging your banding; but that doesn’t mean it will always actually be lowered.

What to do if you succeed

Expect to have your band lowered and ensure you get a backdated rebate from the moment you moved into the property (or 1993, whichever is later). You may also want to consider contacting previous occupants as they should be entitled to a pay out too.

Please feedback your story; the more info the better I can finesse this system. Please report your council tax rebanding successes.

Council Tax Rebanding Quick Q&A

Q. Do payouts mean everyone else in the area will pay more?

A. According to Tony Travers, local government specialist from the London School of Economics, the obligation is on central government to make up the cost of substantial rebanding. The exact relationship is complex, but it does mean the cost is spread. Rather bizarrely, some individual councils may actually gain from this, as there are bigger subsidies if more people are in lower bands.

Yet let's put it in perspective; the whole point of this is to get your money back for council tax you've been overpaying for years. Fundamentally the more people who get revalued the more pressure there will be on the Government to do a nationwide revaluation and ensure everyone is paying a fair amount.

Q. Why doesn’t this apply to Wales & Northern Ireland?

A. Northern Ireland uses a completely different system to council tax so this is irrelevant. Wales does have a council tax system, but a nationwide revaluation has been done far more recently, and thus errors are less likely and less longstanding.

Q. My property usage/neighbourhood has changed, can I apply for a rebanding?

A. The bandings were assessed on 1 April 1991, and haven't been reassessed since (except in Wales) so of course for many people they’re out of date; e.g. if you've had a nightclub built next to your house or it's been turned into flats (though you could also be paying too little if your home's improved!) or property values in your specific neighbourhood have dropped compared to elsewhere.

In fact this is the traditional reason for rebanding your home, and until I launched the check n challenge was the vast majority of appeals. So yes, in these circumstances you can challenge your band.

Q. What does council tax get spent on?

A. Council tax is collected to pay for local services such as policing, education and waste management. In 1993, England, Wales and Scotland saw it replace the notorious ‘poll tax' (Northern Ireland still uses the even older 'rates system'); though it has been widely debated if the current system is much more reasonable.

Q. What type of properties have to pay council tax?

A. Be it a house, flat, mobile home or houseboat, council tax is applicable to all personal dwellings; but don't assume all households pay the same amount.

Q. Can I do it if I rent/am a tenant?

A. You pay council tax if you live somewhere, regardless of whether you are the tenant or owner. Which means if you rent it’s certainly worth going through the system to see. However before you challenge your band, courtesy dictates it's worth discussing it with your landlord first.

Q. Are ‘second gear valuations’ for real?

A. To rush through the valuation in 1991, it was often outsourced to relevant bodies such as estate agents They were simply given a list of the size of properties and asked to assess them from the outside. Within the industry it became known as 'second gear valuations', as quite literally they stayed in their cars and drove past in second gear allocating bands.

As one estate agent confessed to me, "we were on deadline, had to do 400 homes a day, working off a list. I was in a rural area, so often we couldn't even see the properties and just had to do a best guess. The system would've worked if the rebanding was done every five years." Yet it wasn't: bands haven't been revalued since, so it's no surprise so many are wrong.

Q. What should I do if I think I’m in too low a band?

A. There is no obligation on you to do anything or tell anyone. Whether you want to declare it a matter for you and your ethics. Though even if they do – there’s no guarantees it will go up.

Ensure you’re getting council tax discounts too

Council tax band changes aren't the only way to save money. Under certain conditions you're able to get a discount on your council tax bill, or possibly be exempt altogether. If any of the following circumstances apply to you, contact your council immediately as you need to apply for discounts; they're not deducted automatically.

• Are you a student living alone or with other students?

  Full time students don't pay council tax, thus two, three or ten students living together don't pay.

• Do you live alone?

  The full bill assumes at least two adults are living in a property, so if you live alone, or are the only adult (disregarding anyone in full time education), you're eligible for the single person's discount meaning a 25% reduction. Bearing this in mind, inform the council as soon as possible if your circumstances change through a housemate/lodger leaving, becoming a student, separation, divorce, or the death of a partner/spouse.

• Do you live in a mixed student/non-student household?

  Where a student lives with a non-student, the student is disregarded so the council tax bill is reduced as though just a single person lives there.

  If you're contemplating this scenario it does pose a slight moral dilemma; is it fair for the non-student to pay the entire 75%? Should the student contribute? If the non-student lived with another non-student they'd only have to cough up 50% each. Alternatively, if the student lived with another student they wouldn't have to pay at all.

  Either way, the legal stance is that full time students are not jointly and severally liable for the bill if the non-student doesn't or can't pay. So legally students don't have to contribute.

• Do you earn under £16,000?

  If your household income is less than £16,000 (or £9,600 if you don't have children) you may be able to receive council tax benefit to help ease the burden. The 5 Minute Benefit Check-Up Article will assess your eligibility and suggest if you may be entitled to any other financial support.

  Your bill could also be reduced by applying for the Second Adult Rebate if you share your home with someone who is aged at least 18, (they can't be your partner) on a low income and not paying rent or council tax themselves. This reduction could save you up to 25% off your bill.

• Is your property being renovated or is it empty?

  For unoccupied and unfurnished properties which need or are undergoing major repair work to make them habitable, you can claim a Council Tax exemption for the first 12 months, provided the previous owner didn't. For any length of time after that, you may be entitled to up to a fifty percent discount off the normal rate, or no discount at all, depending on which council's area you're in. This is because each council is free to decide what "long term empty" rate it wishes to charge after the exemption has ended.

  If your property is unoccupied and unfurnished but not being renovated, the council may grant an exemption for up to six months.

• Do you have a second home?

  You're liable for council tax on a second home, however you could receive a discount between 10-50% at the discretion of the appropriate council.

• Are you willing to have cavity wall insulation fitted?

  As an energy efficiency incentive, a possible one-off council tax rebate of up to £100 is available to 1.6 million households (only in specific UK local authorities). To get it, you must agree to have British Gas install cavity wall insulation at the cost of £175, although you don't have to get your gas and electricity from British Gas to do it. Of course this means even with the rebate there's an overall cost of £75-£125, but this should be more than made up for by reduced energy bills.

  Before doing it, check your eligibility for an insulation grant via the Directgov website; you can't receive a grant as well as take part in the council tax rebate scheme so if you have the choice, opt for the grant; it'll save you more. If not, check the List to see if your council is participating, and if it is, contact it.

  blah

  Participating Councils

  Council	Max. rebate	Number of households the scheme is open to
  Babergh	£50	32,000
  Braintree	£100	65,000
  Breckland	£50	45,000
  Broadland	£100	52,400
  Conwy	£60	52,000
  Croydon	£50	140,000
  Dartford	£50	25,000
  Daventry	£50	31,000
  Derbyshire Dales	£50	28,000
  Ellesmere Port & Neston	£50	28,000
  Fareham	£50	44,000
  Forest Heath	£50	25,000
  Ipswich	£50	54,000
  Kettering	£50	38,000
  Redditch	£100	35,000
  Runnymede	£50	35,000
  Salford	£100	72,000
  Sefton	£50	100,000
  Slough	£50	40,000
  Solihull	£50	86,000
  South Cambridgeshire	£50	56,000
  South Derbyshire	£100	33,000
  South Hams	£50	45,000
  South Norfolk	£100	49,500
  South Northamptonshire	£50	31,000
  South Shropshire	£50	19,743
  St Edmundsbury	£50	40,000
  Suffolk Coastal	£50	50,000
  Tameside	£50	98,000
  Tamworth	£50	31,000
  Taunton Deane	£100	47,000
  Test Valley	£50	47,289
  Uttlesford	£75	20,000
  Wear Valley	£50	£28,000

  For more details also see the Grant Grabbing article.

• Do you have a disability or are you a carer?

  Reductions for disability are available e.g. if for accessibility purposes you have to live in a large home or you've had to make modifications. You could see your bill decrease by one band.

  Discounts are also available for occupiers who provide/receive care elsewhere.

Further information on council tax discounts and exemptions, and a guide to claiming these can be found on the Directgov website.