Challenging your Council Tax band
If your property has changed or seems mis-banded, you may have the right to request a Council Tax review.
Properties in England and Wales are assigned Council Tax bands based on their value as of 1 April 1991 (England) or 1 April 2003 (Wales). If you believe your property is incorrectly banded, you may challenge this through the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
You have a legal right (known as ‘making a proposal’) to challenge if:
- You have paid Council Tax for less than 6 months.
- The VOA changed your band in the last 6 months.
- Your property or local area has undergone significant change (e.g. structural alterations, change of use, or redevelopment).
If you don’t have a legal right, you may still request a band review by submitting evidence such as:
- Sale prices of similar properties around the valuation date.
- Up to five comparable properties in lower bands, matching on type, size, age, and location.
Challenges can be made online, by form, phone, or email. Council Tax payments must continue during the review. VOA decisions may take up to 6 months (legal right) or 12 months (band review). Appeals are permitted only where a legal challenge was made.
If you live in Scotland, then you need to use the Scottish Assessors portal website to check your Council Tax band and if necessary, lodge a claim with them (known as a proposal).
Challenging your council tax band
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is a government body in England and Wales and an executive agency of HMRC. The Agency values properties for the purpose of Council Tax and for non-domestic rates in England and Wales. The council tax bands were set on 1 April 1991 for England and on 1 April 2003 for Wales and range from Band A – F.
If you believe that your council tax listing is incorrect you can challenge this with the VOA. A recent press release from the VOA has highlighted that some 70,000 households are expected to contact them over the coming months to ask for a review of their Council Tax band.
An appeal against your current band can be made online and you need to give a reason for your challenge and provide supporting evidence. Legally, the VOA can only review Council Tax bands where the claimant provides certain types of evidence to show their banding is wrong, or if it meets certain criteria.
This includes:
- You disagree with an alteration to your properties banding made by the VOA.
- You are new to the property in question and feel the valuation band too high or low.
- The property is no longer a dwelling.
- The local area has changed.
- The property is new or has only recently become used for domestic purposes.
- Change in a property e.g., flats merged into a house of vice versa.
- The valuation band does not take into account a relevant decision of a local Valuation Tribunal or the High Court.
When submitting an appeal, you should include the reasons why you think the Valuation List should be altered and include documentary evidence where possible. You can also appoint someone else to challenge your council tax listing on your behalf.
If you live in Scotland, then you need to use the Scottish Assessors portal website to check your Council Tax band and if necessary, lodge a claim with them (known as a proposal).
