Last year, many residents in Hull and East Yorkshire saw their council tax bills drop after successful appeals, but it comes with some risks.
Hull: Last year, around 70 households in Hull and East Yorkshire managed to get their council tax bills lowered. Sounds great, right? But there’s a catch.
If you think your home is in the wrong council tax band, you can appeal to have it changed. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will look into it and let you know what they find.
But be careful! Your band could go up or down, so it’s a big decision to make. Between April 2023 and March 2024, there were 380 appeals in the area.
Out of those, about 71% didn’t change at all. But 70 lucky cases did see their council tax band reduced. In East Riding of Yorkshire, 60 appeals were successful, while Kingston upon Hull had 10.
Looking at the bigger picture, nearly 44,000 households across England and Wales appealed last year, with about 10,530 getting their bands lowered. But not everyone had good news; 30 households actually saw their bands go up.
While we don’t know exactly where those homes were, we do know that around 10 were in the South East and another 10 in the South West. Some areas had better luck than others.
For instance, in Rossendale and Rushmoor, over two-thirds of appeals led to a reduction. That’s the best rate in England and Wales! Meanwhile, in Hounslow, only 5% of appeals were successful.
So, if you’re thinking about appealing, just weigh your options carefully. It could save you some cash, but it might not always work out in your favor!
