Overview

Council Tax bands are based on how much a property was worth on:

  • 1 April 1991, for England and Scotland
  • 1 April 2003, for Wales

You can challenge your Council Tax band if you think the band is wrong.

For properties in England and Wales, you submit your challenge to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

They will usually review the band and decide whether to agree to the challenge. In some cases, they might not be able to review the challenge.

Which challenges are reviewed

When you challenge your band, you’ll need to give a reason for your challenge and provide supporting evidence.

The VOA will review your band if you’re challenging it for any of the following reasons:

  • your property has changed - for example, it’s been demolished, split into multiple properties or merged into one
  • your property’s use has changed - for example, part of your property is now used for business
  • your local area has changed - for example, a new supermarket has been built

They’ll also review it if you’ve been paying Council Tax on your property for less than 6 months.

If you have a different reason and you’ve been paying Council Tax on the property for 6 months or more, you can still challenge your band. The VOA will only be able to review it if there’s enough evidence for why you think it’s wrong.