Each dwelling (such as a house, flat or bungalow) is placed in a council tax band according to its value.
Valuations are carried out by the Valuation Office, which is part of the Inland Revenue, not part of the council. (Their address is: Valuation Office, Eastgate House, 42 Eastgate, Leeds LS2 7JL. Telephone: 0113 388 4500.)
Valuation was last carried out in 1991, so council tax bands are based on what the property was or would have been worth in 1991. The Valuation Office decides how much the property would probably have been sold for if it had been sold on 1/4/91.
Properties and their bands are listed in valuation lists and which are publicly available for anybody to look at. Copies of the Leeds Valuation List are held at the Valuation Office and at Leeds City Council’s one stop centre at 2 Great George Street.
The bands are as follows:
A - up to £40,000
B - over £40,000 and up to £52,000
C - over £52,000 and up to £68,000
D - over £68,000 and up to £88,000
E - over £88,000 and up to £120,000
F - over £120,000 and up to £160,000
G - over £160,000 and up to £320,000
H - over £320,000
In March 2007, the total number of dwellings in the Valuation List for Leeds was 324893. This figure is broken down as follows:
Number of dwellings in the band;
A - 130622
B - 67032
C - 62026
D - 29998
E - 18950
F - 9176
G - 6440
H - 649
In certain circumstances you can appeal against your property’s band:
- within 6 months of becoming the council tax payer, as long as the previous occupier did not appeal;
- where part of the dwelling stops/starts being used for carrying out a business;
- where the band is altered by the Valuation Office;
- where there has been a material reduction or material increase in value.
(Material reductions in value occur when part of the dwelling is demolished, when the physical state of the local area changes, or when the dwelling is adapted to make it suitable for a person with a physical disability. When this happens, the property can be revalued straightaway.
Material increases in value occur when building, engineering or other work is carried out on a property e.g. an extension is built. When this happens, the property will not be revalued until after it has been sold.)
Lists allowing public access to the valuation 'bandings' of more than 20 million domestic properties in England and Wales are online on the Valuation Office Agency's website, www.voa.gov.uk
The VOA is the branch of the Inland Revenue that maintains property lists for business ratings and council tax purposes.
* If you appeal against your band, you must still pay your bill while you are waiting for the appeal to be dealt with.