Council Tax appeals

Property banding appeals

Your property is valued in one of eight property bands for Council Tax purposes. The band that your property is in is based on its value on 1st April 1991. Council Tax payers have a general right of appeal against the band allocated to their property, but fluctuating changes in house prices do not constitute suitable grounds for a property re-banding.

The owner or occupier of a property can appeal against their valuation banding, but must do so within six months of becoming liable for Council Tax on the property. In the case of newly built homes, you can appeal within six months of the date that the property is entered in the valuation list.

A person who has lived in a property for more than six months can only appeal against what they consider to be an 'incorrect' banding if: 

• the physical state of the area in which the house is situated has changed, and this has affected the property value  
• part of the property has been demolished leading to a material reduction in value  
• material alterations have been made to make the property suitable for use by a disabled person and its value has decreased
• the property has been converted from a single dwelling into flats or from flats to a single dwelling
• there has been an increase in the part of the property which is valued for use for business purposes, for example the whole or part of a flat above a shop is converted for use as a storeroom.

If you make any improvements and alterations, such as building extensions and conservatories which could otherwise increase the value of the property, we will only consider these for Council Tax purposes if you then sell the property. The new owner would become liable for the increased charge if the property is re-banded. We would also consider such alterations if a complete Council Tax re-banding took place.