Martin Lewis explains how you can save thousands of pounds on your council tax
MARTIN Lewis is urging households to check their council tax bills to see if they’re paying too much – here’s how you can save thousands of pounds a year.
Writing in his weekly MoneySavingExpert newsletter, Martin warned how up to 400,000 homes in England and Scotland are in the wrong council tax band.
But in as little as 10 minutes, the savings guru says you can check and challenge your council tax banding – potentially slashing your bills and nabbing yourself a rebate going back years.
The advice from Martin comes after the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it will give local councils the power to put up the tax by 2 per cent.
They will also be able to add another 2 per cent on the tax to help pay for social care in the local area.
It means that the average Band D council tax bill will rise by £70, from £1,750 in 2019/20 to £1,820 from April this year.
Is anyone exempt from paying council tax?
IF you are over the age of 18 and either own or rent your own home, you must pay council tax.
But if you live on your own, or only live with a child and no other adult, you can get 25 per cent off your bill.
You’ll usually get a 50 per cent discount if no-one living in your home, including you, counts as an adult.
Full-time students and apprentices don’t have to pay any council tax.
People with a severe mental impairment are also exempt. There is a discount of 25 per cent for people who live with someone who has a severe mental impairment.
Councils can give furnished second homes or holiday homes a discount of up to 50 per cent.
You’ll usually have to pay council tax on an empty home, but your council can decide to give you a discount.
What you need to know before challenging your council tax band
It’s worth noting that challenging your council tax is not a sure-fire way to reduce your bills.
It can also end up with you, and your neighbours, paying more if you’re bumped up to a higher council tax band.
If you’re thinking about making a challenge, the first step is to check what council tax band your neighbours are on.
This information is available online and is free to check, so you don’t need to ask your neighbours in person if you’re not on friendly terms.
Use the website to do this for houses in England, or the for properties in Scotland.
Martin says you should try and compare homes that are similar in size and value.
If you find your property is in a higher council tax band compared to your neighbours, you might have a successful challenge.
However, it should be warned again that your entire street might just be in the wrong council tax band – so you could ended up pushing up everyone’s bills.
Another important step before you go ahead with a challenge is to work out how much your property was worth in 1991, as this is when council tax was launched by the government.
has a free calculator tool to help you do this, as well as a table on what band you should have been put in.
This information can’t be used when you challenge, but it enables you to check if you’re more likely to be successful.
What other help is available if you want to lower your council tax?
IF you're not sure about challenging your council tax band, there is other help available to lower your bills.
- Full-time students don’t need to pay any council tax at all and if you live alone you could qualify for a 25 per cent discount on your bills.
- If you want to spread the cost of your payments a little further you can ask to make your payments over a full 12 months, rather than the usual 10. Check the website for more information.
- If you live with someone who has a permanent condition that affects their intelligence or social functioning – something like Alzheimer’s or severe learning difficulties – you could also get a quarter off your bill. Charities such as , and all offer free help and advice on how to claim back any council tax you are owed. How long it takes to get your refund varies with different councils, so it is best to check with yours to see how long you will have to wait.
How to challenge your council tax band
If you want to go ahead with a challenge, you can contact the (VOA) in England and Wales or the (SAA) in Scotland.
You must provide evidence to back up your claim, which can be the addresses of similar properties that are in a lower council tax band to yours.
The addresses you send must be of properties that are in the same street or estate if you live in a town or city, or in the same village if you live in the countryside.
If the valuation office agrees that your property is in the wrong band, it will contact you and the band will be changed.
If you’re moved to a lower band, you’ll get a refund of council tax going back to the date you moved into the property.
But if you’re moved to a higher band, you’ll start paying an increased rate of council tax straight away.
If it disagrees that you’re in the wrong band, nothing will change.
Not happy with the outcome of your council tax challenge?
You can appeal to an independent valuation tribunal – there are details on how to do this on the VOA and SAA websites.
Figures from last year showed one in three people who challenged council tax bands saw a drop in bills.
More than 1.7million Brits are owed an average of £137 each in council tax refunds, according to new research.
Are you due a council tax refund? Martin Lewis has also revealed how you can get £1,000s back.