Each domestic property (such as a house, flat or bungalow) is placed in a council tax band, by the Valuation Office Agency (part of HM Revenues and Customs). The bands are based on what the property might have been sold for on 1st April 1991, not on today’s house prices.
Properties and their bands are listed in valuation lists and you can view a copy of the Leeds Valuation List at the Valuation Office or on their website.
Each year, the Council sets the yearly Council Tax for a Band D property. The amounts payable for the other Bands are proportions (ninths) of the Band D amount, as follows:
|
Band
|
Value of property (1991)
|
Proportion of Band D
|
|
A
|
Up to £40,000
|
6/9
|
|
B
|
£40,000 - £52,000
|
7/9
|
|
C
|
£52,000 - £68,000
|
8/9
|
|
D
|
£68,000 - £88,000
|
9/9
|
|
E
|
£88,000 - £120,000
|
11/9
|
|
F
|
£120,000 - £160,000
|
13/9
|
|
G
|
£160,000 - £320,000
|
15/9
|
|
H
|
Over £320,000
|
18/9
|
People who live in areas which have Parish Councils often have a small amount extra to pay for services provided by their Parish Council, ‘a Parish Precept’, which is collected by Leeds City Council for the Parish Council.
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 payer did not appeal;
- where part of the property stops or starts being used for carrying out a business;
- where the band is changed by the Valuation Office;
- where there has been a ‘material’ reduction or ‘material’ increase in the value of the property.
Material reductions in value happen when part of the property is demolished, when the physical state of the local area changes, or when the property is adapted to make it suitable for a person with a physical disability. When this happens, the property can be re-valued straightaway.
Material increases in value happen 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 re-valued until after it has been sold.
To appeal against your band you must write to the Valuation Office Agency, not the council. Their address is Valuation Office, Eastgate House, 42 Eastgate, Leeds LS2 7JL, telephone 0113 388 4500, email leedsgroup.vo@voa.gsi.gov.uk.
If you appeal against your band, you must still pay your Council Tax bill while you are waiting to hear about your appeal.