Bands were set from what homes were worth in 1991, and many newer homes were never properly re-checked. Yet only about 1 home in 600 is challenged each year. Join the list and you'll get your result the day the check opens.
Example result · not a real home
A 3-bed semi, 92 m². Most homes its size around it sit in Band D. Your result names every comparable, so you can check each one on the VOA's own site.
Bought in the last six months? Your strongest route, where an independent panel hears your case, closes six months after you became the taxpayer. Tell me when you moved in and I'll put you at the front.
One favour: if your neighbours have the same-shaped house, send them this page. Bands go wrong by street, not by house, so a row of you has a stronger case than one.
Every home in England is banded on what it would have been worth in April 1991. If your house was built after that, someone had to guess. On a new estate, the guess was often made off a plan or a drive-by, and then never looked at again. Nobody at the Valuation Office has to check it unless you ask.
So the same house can sit in band E on one road and band D on the next. The bill goes up every April, and the band stays where it was put.
Most people who suspect it never do anything. Not because they don't care, but because nobody wants another project. That's the part I take off you.
Less than you'd think. The council tax challenge has to be in your name; everything else is mine.
You · 60 seconds
Postcode, pick your house. You see how it's banded against the same-sized homes near you. Free, whatever it says.
Me · usually within 24 hours
Comparable homes chosen the way the tribunal looks at them, floor areas, the history of your road, written up so a stranger can follow it.
You · about 5 minutes
Name, address, attach the report, send. The report tells you what each kind of VOA reply means and what to do next.
Your time: under ten minutes to send it. The evidence: mine.
| What it costs | Who does the work | The catch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself with the VOA | Free | You | Five comparables, no room for an argument, and picking the wrong ones can sink it. Worth doing if you have a weekend. |
| A self-serve pack online | About £5–£30 | Mostly you | A score and a template. You still choose the evidence and handle every reply. |
| A "no win, no fee" firm | A percentage of your refund | Them | The bigger your refund, the more you pay. |
| CT Challenge | Free check. Free challenge for Bands A–D; a flat fee for E–H | I write the report; you send it | I'm one person, so the full check opens in stages. Hence the list. |
The check is free for everyone. I write the report; you send it. For homes in Bands A to D the report is free as well. Homes in Bands E to H pay a flat fee, and that pays for the free ones. Never a cut of your refund.
Check
£0
See how your band compares with the same-sized homes near you.
Formal challenge report
£49
If you became the taxpayer in the last six months. I write the report; you send it to the VOA.
Informal review report
£99
For everyone else. I write the report; you send it to the VOA.
Tribunal report
£189
If the VOA turns down a formal challenge. I write the tribunal report; you submit it.
Free whatever the band if you're on a low income, older, disabled, bereaved or struggling. If your band looks right, I'll say so, and that costs nothing either.
I'm Eric, an architect designing data centres, so floor areas and comparables are my day job, and I'm handy with data and AI. I checked my own house first, and got it wrong in five different ways before I got it right.
I don't value property and I don't work for the council, so I have no vested interest in the status quo.
It can. The VOA can move a band either way. That's why the check comes first: if your home looks right or low against its neighbours, I'll tell you to leave it alone, and you've lost nothing.
If you challenge within six months of becoming the taxpayer at a property, and the VOA says no, you can take it to an independent tribunal. After that, the VOA can still review your band, but it is effectively marking its own homework. That's why people inside the window go first.
You can, and it's free. If you have a weekend and like this sort of thing, go for it. The free check will still show you what you're up against. What I add is the evidence, and handling the back-and-forth.
Sometimes. Any lower band applies from now on. Whether it's backdated depends on the date the VOA gives the change, and on your council. I'll always tell you the two numbers separately: the saving that's certain, and the refund that might come.
I'll email you the day the check opens. One email, with your result in it.
I use them to email you when the check opens, and to decide which homes to check first. They're never sold, and never shared with the council or the VOA. The full notice is below.