Wrong Band from VOA for council tax

[Johnny Be Good]

I removed one of my rentals from council tax for 2 years.
It was BAND A.
We made the necessary repairs but we did not structurally change anything other than like for like.

Now after two years the VOA put it back for council tax but as BAND B.
Can I ask.

The property sold in 2016 for £110,000. Using the UK House Price Index (HPI) methodology nationally accepted by the VOA, this equates to an estimated 1991 value of approximately £28,600 (£110,000 ÷ 3.84). This is significantly below the Band B threshold (£40,001–£52,000) and clearly within Band A (up to £40,000).

I have appealed online, most of the houses on the street are bungalows and all BAND A and very few( only 3 ) very big houses which are Band C.
Is the VOA most likely to take the last sale as evidence or will it be looking for sales around the 1991 year for similar properties.
My house is a 2 floor building.

Also if you appeal and they reject do they provide evidence on how they calculate it. But if it has been calculated in 1991 as BAND A and the classification law has not changed since, shouldn't it stay the same Band? Is the council looking for extra cash?

 

[eteb3]

They’re looking at the notional arms-length sale value at the valuation date, which was some time in 1066. If you improve the property you’ll increase the value in terms of 1066 prices.

 

[forsteri]

Normally any improvements carried out during the period of a single ownership do not trigger a re-valuation, only when the property changes ownership is it automatically revalued and assessed for banding. So your re-banding must have been allowed due to it being unoccupied for two years, but you should check that that is correct. Councils make mistakes. My house was moved down one band after I appealed the original banding, the reason being that the assessor was using incorrect information about the property - they had used the original approved planning permission documents, but the building as-built, 7 years later, was smaller.