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How can I reduce my council tax band?

Your council tax bill can be one of the biggest expenses associated with owning a home. For many people, a large part of their salary goes to pay for services run by the council.

However, around 400,000 homes in both England and Scotland are not in the correct council tax band. You can check and challenge the classification your home is in, which will not only lower your city tax cost, but you may also get a refund that could go back to 1993!

Houses were placed in tax bands back in 1991, when council taxes were introduced. In many cases, the houses have never been reassessed to see what category they fall into, which means that there are many people who overpay on their council taxes.

The first step in reducing your council tax band is to check your neighbors’ band and compare it to yours. You can find this information from the Valuation Office Agency in England and the Scottish Assessors Association in Scotland.

Check your band and your neighbors’ band to see how they compare. You should be sure to compare your band to a house of similar size and value to ensure an accurate comparison.

If your neighbors are in a lower band than you, then you might have a claim.

You can verify this by looking at your home price in 1991, when the bands were tested. This will give you an idea of ​​whether or not you are in the wrong band.

Remember that you cannot contact the town hall to ask them to lower your band, you are asking them to reassess your council tax band. If you haven’t done your research, you might find that your council tax band is going up! In the worst case, you might also find that your neighbors’ bands increase as well, which won’t make you a popular neighbor!

If you are sure that your home is in the wrong classification, you can write to your local Listing Officer or appeal online at the Appraisal Office Agency.

You will need to state why you think your house is on the wrong band and ask them to explain how the decision was made which band your house is on.

If your application is denied, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal within three months and ask them to review your case.

You may be told that you cannot contest the banding because it has been on the property for more than six months. If this happens, write to them that she believes your house banding is incorrect and ask them to investigate and correct. This will often work as they are legally required to investigate and maintain correct banding.

If you are turned down, unless you have a very strong case, it may not be worth your while to appeal and move on. If the investigation is denied and the appeals process fails, then there is nothing more you can do.

However, many people have been successful in reassessing their house bands and now pay less council tax.