Council Tax valuation

Council Tax valuation bands, new properties and completion notices.

Find out about how Council Tax bands are decided, how to register a new property for Council Tax and how and when we issue Council Tax completion notices.

Council Tax valuation bands

Uttlesford District Council is a billing authority which means that although we are responsible billing you and collecting your Council Tax, we don't set the Council Tax bands. All Council Tax bands are decided by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

Council Tax began on 01 April 1993 and there has never been a Council Tax revaluation in England. Therefore, Council Tax bands in England are still based on property prices as at 01 April 1991. The valuation bands of properties that entered the Council Tax list at a later date are based on what the property might have been worth if it had been in existence on 1 April 1991.

Band	Valuation as at 1 April 1991
A	Not exceeding £40,000
B	£40,001	to	£52,000
C	£52,001	to	£68,000
D	£68,001	to	£88,000
E	£88,001	to	£120,000
F	£120,001	to	£160,000
G	£160,001	to	£320,000
H	Exceeding £320,001

Any rise or fall in the property's value due to general changes in the property market will not be a reason for changing your band, so the listing officer will not accept an appeal purely on this basis. Recent purchase prices are not necessarily adequate evidence for appeal.

View current and past valuation bands by parish

Appealing a Council Tax band

If you think your Council Tax valuation band is wrong, you need to contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), not Uttlesford District Council.

Appeal your Council Tax band (external link)

Whilst you are making an appeal against your valuation band you must continue to pay your Council Tax as it is currently set. If your appeal is successful, you will be entitled to a refund of any overpayment.

Annexes

Some properties that are occupied by one household or one family unit, consist of more than one self-contained unit and these additional dwellings are referred to as an annexe. The use and occupation of an annexe must usually remain ancillary to the other dwelling which means that they are subject to a planning restriction.

An annexe can either be a living space that is separate from other dwellings or a living space that is connected to and sharing access with adjoining accommodation. Even when detached, annexes cannot usually be sold or let separately and may share common services with the other accommodation, but this does not prevent it being self-contained.

Any building, or part of a building, which has been constructed or adapted for use as separate living accommodation must be given a separate Council Tax band.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will decide each case based on the construction and/or adaptation of the property. When deciding whether an additional area of living accommodation exists within a domestic property, only physical features are considered; not how it's used. This means that a separate Council Tax band is still required if a self-contained unit which could be occupied separately is vacant.

Valuation Office Agency - Council Tax bands and self-contained units (PDF, 106 KB)

Appealing your annexe Council Tax band

If you think your property has incorrectly been given an additional Council Tax band, you have the right to appeal the decision to include the annexe in the Council Tax Valuation list. To do this, you must contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) directly and more information is available on their website: how to challenge your Council Tax. You can contact the VOA directly by phone on 03000 501501 or by email at cteast@voa.gov.uk.

If you've removed a separate area of living accommodation by making physical changes to your domestic property you should contact the VOA directly. The VOA will only be able to remove a Council Tax band if the annexe has been sufficiently altered so that it could no longer be lived in separately.

Council Tax liability for an annexe

To establish who must pay the Council Tax, we refer to a list (hierarchy) to find a category that applies to someone in the household. The person in the highest category of residence would normally appear on the Council Tax bill and be held liable for the charge. Occupiers are usually liable for the Council Tax charge and in the case of unoccupied properties, the owner is usually liable. More information can be found on our Who has to pay Council Tax page.

Annexe Council Tax Discount and Exemptions

As with all Council Tax properties, annexes may be subject to a range of Council Tax discounts and exemptions depending on their occupancy and who is occupying. For example, sole adult occupiers can claim a 25% sole occupancy discount or if the annexe is occupied by a qualifying disabled person, disabled band relief may apply. More information is available on our Discounts and disabled band relief page.

In addition, annexes may be subject to a reduced Council Tax charge by way of specific annexe discounts and exemptions.

Family annexe discounts

Annexes occupied as an extension of family living or where the annexe is occupied by a qualifying relative, a 50% Council Tax discount will apply after any other discount or reduction is applied.

For the purposes of Council Tax an annexe is defined as a dwelling which forms part of a single property which includes another dwelling, and which may not be let separately from that other dwelling without a breach of planning controls.

For the purposes of the family annexe discount, relatives include spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece (including older generations of each e.g. great grandparent). Relatives by marriage or civil partnership and two people living together as if they were married or in a civil partnership will be treated as though the couple were married or in a civil partnership. The stepchild of a person shall be treated as his/her child.

This annexe discount was introduced on 01 April 2014 and can be applied from that date. The discount can continue for the whole of the period while the conditions of the discount are met.

How to apply

If your annexe is occupied as an extension of family living or where or is occupied by a qualifying relative, you can complete our online application form to apply for an annexe discount.

Apply for an annexe discount

Annexes - Class W

Occupied annexes are exempt from the Council Tax charge if they are occupied as the sole or main home of a dependent relative of a person living in the main dwelling.

A relative is to be regarded as dependent if they are:

aged 65 years or more; or
under 65 but severely mentally impaired; or
under 65 but substantially and permanently disabled.

For the purposes of the exemption, the following are regarded as relatives:

spouse;
parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, great-grandparent, great-grandchild, great-uncle, great-aunt, great-nephew, great-niece.

How to apply

If you are occupying an annexe and are a dependent relative of a person living in the main dwelling, please complete our online application form. We will be in touch if we need any further information.

Apply for an annexe excemption

Annexes - Class T

Annexes are exempt from the Council Tax charge if they are unoccupied and remain ancillary to the main dwelling. This means that the annexe is subject to a planning restriction preventing it from being sold or let independently of the main dwelling. Occupancy of these annexes are usually restricted to family members only.

For the purposes of Council Tax an annexe is defined as a dwelling which forms part of a single property which includes another dwelling and which may not be let separately from that other dwelling without a breach of planning controls.

The exemption can only be applied for the period that the annexe remains unoccupied and only while the planning restriction applies. If you are granted a certificate of lawfulness or successfully apply to have any ancillary conditions to be removed, you will no longer be eligible for the exemption.

How to apply

If your unoccupied annexe meets the criteria listed above, please email the Council Tax team at revenues@uttlesford.gov.uk setting out your circumstances and we will be in touch with further advice. Please provide your name, address and contact details.

New build properties

Local authority revenues teams have a duty to refer properties in their area to the VOA to be entered on to the Council Tax valuation list. Once this has happened, the VOA make an assessment and assign a valuation band although they sometimes make an assessment without a referral from the council.

While we wait for the official banding, we will issue you with a provisional Council Tax bill based on a provisional band. This means that you can start making Council Tax payments sooner and avoid getting a large bill once you receive the official banding notification. The provisional band is an estimated band based on the market value.

Once decided, if the official band is different to the estimated provisional band, we will adjust your Council Tax bill and instalments accordingly. If you would prefer to wait for the official band before making any Council Tax payments, please email us at valuationteam@uttlesford.gov.uk and we will remove the provisional charge.

If you have purchased, rented or occupied a new build in the Uttlesford District Council area, please complete an online form to tell us that you have moved into or within the district.
If you are a developer and have completed or sold a new build property, please email us at valuationteam@uttlesford.gov.uk to provide the address, completion date and market value. If you have sold the property, please also provide the names of the new owners and the date that the sale completed.

Council Tax completion notices

A Council Tax completion notice is served when the local authority identifies that a newly constructed or converted property is either already complete or believe that the outstanding works can be completed within 3 months. For the purposes of a completion notice, the new property can be either newly constructed or created by conversion or alteration.

The completion notice is served on the owner and the date provided on the completion notice is the date that the property will be entered into the valuation list. Council Tax completion notices are issued in accordance with Schedule 4A of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and Section 17 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

A completion notice must always be served in advance and no more than 3 months prior to the completion date set by the council. This means that the property may not already be complete on the day that the completion notice is served but it is capable of completion by the completion date.

A completion notice cannot be backdated, even if the property has been complete for some time.

A new, converted or altered property does not require a completion notice to bring it into the Council Tax valuation list once it is occupied and these cases, the date of occupation will be used when referring the property to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) for entry onto the Council Tax list.

If you disagree with the completion notice, your right of appeal is directly to The Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) and you must appeal within 28 days of the date of service.

Completion dates

To ensure that we make the right decision case by case, council officers carry out periodic site visits to review the progress of building and alteration works. During the site visit a report is completed and anything of note is photographed.

The council consider a property to have reached a stage of substantial completion when it meets the following criteria:

The basic structure is complete with all external walls and roof in place.
Internal walls are built but not necessarily plastered.
Floors are laid although the screed or topcoat of concrete need not have been laid.
Services such as water, gas, and electricity should be laid to the site.

In these circumstances a completion notice will be issued with a completion date set for within 3 months of the date of issue.

In cases where properties have reached an advanced level of completion, for example where ceilings are in place, walls have been plastered and the second fixing may have commenced, the completion date will be shorter than for properties that we consider to be substantially complete.

For properties that are clearly complete and capable of habitation, the completion date will be set for a matter of days allowing only for the correct service of the completion notice either in person or through the normal course of the post.

No consideration is given to the following works when considering if a Council Tax completion notice can be issued:

Internal decoration of the property, including the fitting of internal doors.
Final fitting of bathroom and kitchen units.
Final fitting of electrical fixtures, plug points and switches.
Final connection of water, gas, and electricity.

The criteria for determining completion for the purposes of Council Tax are substantially different to those required to achieve building control completion so the absence of a final building control certificate is irrelevant when considering whether a Council Tax completion notice will be issued.

Appealing a Council Tax completion notice

If you disagree with the completion notice, your right of appeal is directly to The Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) and you must appeal within 28 days of the date of service.

Council Tax bills and discounts

The date shown on the completion notice will be the date used in calculating any Council Tax charges and a Council Tax bill will follow shortly after the completion date has passed.

If the property will be unoccupied and unfurnished on the completion date, you can apply for a 50% discount for a period of up to six months. In some cases, the discount may have already been awarded on the assumption that this will be the case. You must always tell the Council Tax team at Uttlesford District Council of any changes or as soon the property is sold, let, occupied or furnished.

Should you choose to appeal the completion notice to the Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS), you must pay in accordance with Council Tax bill issued to you until the outcome of your appeal is known.

Penalty

If your Council Tax bill indicates that an exemption or discount has been granted and you think it is incorrect, you must contact the Council Tax team at Uttlesford District Council within 21 days of when the bill was issued to tell them. You must also tell us about any change of circumstances that may affect your eligibility to claim the exemption within 21 days of the change. If you fail to do so, you may be issued with a penalty of £70.

Cost of living support

Council Tax valuation