RESIDENTS WILL RECEIVE £100,000 IN REBATES

First published by: News & Star

HOME-OWNERS ON A CARLISLE ESTATE WILL RECEIVE £100,000 IN TAX REBATES. WHY: BECAUSE THEIR HOUSES WERE PLACED IN THE WRONG COUNCIL TAX BANDS.

Rated at Council Tax band C, 180 homes on Kingfisher Park, off Warwick Road, have been rebanded as B after a lengthy appeal process. A spokesman for the Valuation Office Agency, which calculates bands, said: “Because we were unable to make a decision on the Council Tax level the case was taken to an independent valuation tribunal and they made the decision the band should be lower.” On the estate, 180 properties have now seen their band lowered from C to B meaning the annual bill for residents will drop from £1,148.30 to £1,004.77 – a saving of£143.53. A band B house has a value of £40,001 to £52,000, while band C homes range from £52,001 to £68,000.

A Carlisle City Council spokeswoman said it was not possible to say exactly how much the authority will have to return to each household but said the overall cost is likely to be around £100,000. The exact payments will depend on the length of time occupiers have lived in their property and whether they were claiming the single person 25-per-cent discount.

Homes on the estate also had their Council Tax waived while uninhabited in the wake of January’s flooding. Each home within the Carlisle area is allocated a Council Tax band by the local district valuer. Any property owner is able to appeal against the decision providing the appeal is made within six months of the banding decision. These appeals can take several years to resolve.  The council spokeswoman added: “When appeals are successful, we are authorised to re-calculate Council Tax liability and credit accounts or make refunds. 

“The appeal for a Kingfisher Park home was unusual because it was judged that approximately 200 similar properties would also qualify for a banding reduction. “We have now calculated each householder’s reduced Council Tax liability based on the revised Council Tax bands. “We are currently issuing refunds/credit notes to all liable householders who have lived in an affected property back to the date they were first occupied.” The first homes on the Barratt estate were built in 1998 but some were not occupied until 2002.

READ WHAT: ERIC PICKLES ‘SECRETARY OF STATE’ SAYS ABOUT OVER-CHARGED COUNCIL TAX. 

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