Be thankful for a lower banding
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A COUPLE from Wells in Somerset are in a dilemma. They think their house has been placed in too low a band for the council tax.
Their property has been classified as Band D; they were expecting Band F. The couple will be about pounds 300 a year better off, but they intend to sell their property in about six months and are concerned that the banding might encourage a prospective purchaser to try to knock down the price.
Despite the couple's fears, Benjamin Tobin of Strattons, the chartered surveyors, thinks they would not gain from trying to get the property reclassified: 'The bandings were assessed in 1991. You are now looking at quite a different set of market conditions. They are just not that relevant.'
Trevor Kent, former chairman of the National Association of Estate Agents, agrees: 'A lot of estate agents are not bothering to put the banding on their particulars. We used to find that no one bothered with rateable values, which were supposedly more accurate, either.'
Moreover, it is impossible simply to go to your local council and plead to pay more. The entire appeal procedure, a tortuous process to say the least, must be followed.
Mr Kent explains: 'The difficulty in these sorts of cases is that people often have an over-inflated opinion of the value of their property.
'They would have to prove that the property was actually worth more and provide comparable evidence. The district valuer will work hard to prove he is right, even if he has assessed the property in a lower banding.'
The consensus is that a lower banding should not disadvantage anyone when trying to sell. In fact, a purchaser will probably be delighted to pay less tax.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments