Challenge your Council Tax band
When you do not have a legal right to make a challenge
You can ask for your band to be reviewed if:
- you have been paying Council Tax for more than 6 months
- there have not been any changes to the property recently but you think the band is wrong
You鈥檒l need to provide evidence of why you think your property is in the wrong band.
Evidence to support your challenge
You鈥檒l need to provide addresses for up to 5 similar properties in a lower band than yours.
The properties should be the same as your property in terms of:
- type - for example, if you live in a semi-detached house the properties should be semi-detached houses
- size - for example, number of bedrooms and total area
- age
- style and design
The properties should also be either:
- in the same street or estate - if you live in a town or city
- in the same village or area - if you live in the countryside
Evidence from house prices
You can also use the price that your property or similar properties sold for as evidence, if the sales were between:
- 1 April 1989 and 31 March 1993 - if your property is in England
- 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2005 - if your property is in Wales
You can look up property sale prices online from 1995 onwards.
Compare the sale prices to the prices the properties are valued at for Council Tax.
| Council Tax band | Properties in England - value in April 1991 | Properties in Wales - value in April 2003 |
| A | Up to 拢40,000 | Up to 拢44,000 |
| B | More than 拢40,000 and up to 拢52,000 | More than 拢44,000 and up to 拢65,000 |
| C | More than 拢52,000 and up to 拢68,000 | More than 拢65,000 and up to 拢91,000 |
| D | More than 拢68,000 and up to 拢88,000 | More than 拢91,000 and up to 拢123,000 |
| E | More than 拢88,000 and up to 拢120,000 | More than 拢123,000 and up to 拢162,000 |
| F | More than 拢120,000 and up to 拢160,000 | More than 拢162,000 and up to 拢223,000 |
| G | More than 拢160,000 and up to 拢320,000 | More than 拢223,000 and up to 拢324,000 |
| H | More than 拢320,000 | More than 拢324,000 and up to 拢424,000 |
| I | Not applicable | More than 拢424,000 |
If the sale prices are outside the Council Tax band, you can use this as evidence. You will need to give:
- the addresses of the properties
- the sale prices
- the dates the properties were sold - the closer this is to the valuation date, the more likely the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will be able to use this evidence
The VOA will not consider average house price information from websites such as Nationwide House Price Index, Nethouseprices, Rightmove or Zoopla as strong evidence.