How are council tax bands worked out in England and Wales?

Full answer

Council tax bands determine how much council tax a domestic property pays, but the valuation date behind those bands is decades old and does not reflect current house prices. **How bands are set in England** England has eight bands, A to H, based on the property's estimated market value on 1 April 1991 -- not today's value. This means two similar houses in different areas, or even two houses that have both been extended since 1991, can sit in very different bands depending only on what they were hypothetically worth over three decades ago. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), part of HMRC, is responsible for assigning and reviewing bands. **The bands (England)** - Band A: up to £40,000 (1991 value) - Band B: £40,001-£52,000 - Band C: £52,001-£68,000 - Band D: £68,001-£88,000 (the reference band most councils quote as their standard rate) - Band E: £88,001-£120,000 - Band F: £120,001-£160,000 - Band G: £160,001-£320,000 - Band H: above £320,000 Each band pays a fixed multiple of the Band D rate set by the local council (for example Band A pays 6/9ths of the Band D charge, Band H pays 18/9ths, i.e. double). **Wales and Scotland** Wales revalued all properties in 2003 and has nine bands (A to I), and the Welsh Government has committed to a further council tax revaluation. Scotland still uses 1991 valuations like England but has its own band structure and a different set of ratios, including higher multipliers on Bands E to H introduced in recent years. **Why 1991 values still matter** Because no full domestic revaluation has taken place in England since 1993 (when the current system began), your band reflects a valuer's estimate of what your home (or a comparable one) would have sold for in 1991 -- adjustments for extensions or major works are still assessed against a notional 1991 value, not current prices. **Challenging your band** You can ask the VOA to review your band if you believe it is wrong -- for example, if you moved in within the last six months, if a similar neighbouring property is in a lower band, or if the property has been demolished, merged, or split. Challenging a band can result in it going down, staying the same, or in rare cases going up, so it is worth checking comparable properties on the VOA website first. **Worked example** Two near-identical semi-detached houses on the same street are in Band D and Band E respectively, because one had a small extension completed just before the 1991 valuation date that pushed its notional value slightly higher, while the identical house next door was extended afterwards and was assessed on its unextended 1991 value. This kind of anomaly is exactly what a band challenge can address.

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