COUNCIL tax bands were drawn up way back in 1991 based on drive-by valuations of homes at that time. They are subsequently very out-of-date and many people may actually be in the wrong council tax band.
In 2007, financial expert and Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis came up with a system for checking whether you are in the right band and how you might be able to challenge it if you think you are not.
The Check and Challenge approach made huge headlines that year and many people have been able to use it to save themselves money since then.
Here’s how it works:
Step one – The neighbours check
The Check and Challenge method has two steps and it is absolutely vital you do both before deciding whether to get your council tax banding assessed.
READ MORE: Why is council tax unfair and why does it need reforming?
Step one involves finding out if your band is higher than neighbours in similar or identical properties. Thankfully this is public information so you don’t need to go and ask them.
The band of every property in Scotland can be found on the Scottish Assessors Association website.
When comparing your band with your neighbours’, make sure the properties are as close in size and value as possible. If neighbours in similar properties are in a lower band than you, then you may have a claim.
However, you could land yourself in bother if you don’t do the next step. If your band is different to your neighbours’ and you’re in similar properties, then it could be that their band is wrong and not yours, and you could actually end up landing them with a larger bill if you appeal.
So here is an important next step before deciding to challenge…
Step two – The valuation check
A second crucial step is to estimate what your home was worth in 1991, as that's when and how the council tax bands were defined.
If you bought your house after 1991, you can simply use its price and date of sale to do this. If you rent or bought earlier, you'll need to find an estimated price. It's also worth doing this with similar neighbouring properties.
To find a price quickly, you can use a website which offers free historic sales price information such as Zoopla or Rightmove. Enter your street name and it'll tell you the prices of all properties sold there since 2000.
Find the most recent sale price of a similar property to yours in your street. Now note down both the price and the date of sale.
READ MORE: Four Glasgow councillors fail to pay thousands in council tax
Once you have that information, you can use it to estimate what your property would've been worth back in 1991, and what band it's in. There is a calculator you can use here, which uses house price data from Nationwide.
This will only give a very rough indication, but it is still an important check. You may be in a higher band than your neighbours because they’re in the wrong band, not you. In that case, if you appeal and stay in the same band, but their band is increased, you might not make many friends. This additional check helps mitigate the chances of that happening.
Now you've worked out roughly what your property was worth in 1991, you can compare this to a table by clicking here to see what band you should have been put in, based on that home value.
How to challenge
An important thing to mention is that you can’t just ask for your band to be lowered, only for it to be reassessed, which means it could be moved up or down. This is why it’s important to do both checks and be mindful if you’ve added an extension to your home or done something which could’ve increased its value.
If you're convinced your property band is unfair after all the checks, you could challenge it.
In Scotland, the SAA deals with council tax bands. Enter your postcode in the council tax bands search box on the homepage. Select your property from the list.
If you want to challenge the banding, click on "Make a proposal". You can then fill in an online form which will be sent to your local assessor, who will contact you.
You can find out more about Martin Lewis' method here and it is advised you read through the whole page before making any challenge.
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