If you want to challenge your property banding, you can appeal to the Valuation Office.
Appeals can only be made under the following circumstances:
1. If part of your property has been demolished (for example a garage or an extension). But if the demolition is the first stage of works to create a new extension, then the valuation band cannot be altered.
2. If your property has been adapted to make it suitable for use by a physically disabled person.
3. If there have been physical changes in your area which could affect the value of your property.
4. If your property has been converted into flats.
5. If you have bought a property, or been granted a lease on a property for seven years or more, and the property's value has been increased because it was extended by the previous occupier.
6. If your property becomes, or ceases to be, a "composite" property. A composite property is one which contains both domestic and non-domestic property, such as a shop or public house with living accommodation.
7. If there is an increase or decrease in the extent of that part of a composite property used for domestic purposes (for example, a domestic living room is converted for use as an extension to the bar area in a public house).
8. If you have received a notice from the Listing Officer advising you that he/she has altered the entry for your property in the Council Tax Valuation List, you have six months to make a proposal if you do not agree with the change.
9. If the Valuation Tribunal or High Court has made a decision relevant to your property, you may make a proposal, within six months of the date of that decision, to claim that the Listing Officer has not reflected that decision in the valuation band of your property.
10. If you become a new Council Taxpayer for a dwelling, you have a period of six months within which to challenge the valuation band of your property. You may do this as long as the Valuation Tribunal or High Court has not previously considered a challenge by a previous occupier on the same facts.
11. If you are a landlord, who is not the Council Taxpayer, and the tenancy of your property is for less than six months, you can also challenge the valuation band of the property in cases 1 – 10 above.
12. You can also make a proposal to enter your property in the valuation list if it is not shown; for example a newly built dwelling or a conversion.
13. You can also make a proposal to delete a property from the valuation list if it no longer exists or if you think it should no longer be liable for Council Tax.
Further details can be obtained from the Valuation Office website. You can also appeal to your local district and borough council if you feel that they have incorrectly billed you, or if you feel that you are not the person liable for the bill.
East Sussex County Council