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Appealing against property valuation

How is my property valued?

Every domestic property has been valued by the Listing Officer who is an officer of the Valuation Office Agency. The value is based on the open market value of the property as at 1st April, 1991. Once it has been valued, it is placed into one of eight broad valuation bands.

The table below shows the values which have been used:

Valuation Band	Open market value as at 1st April 1991
A	Not more than £40,000
B	£40,001 to £52,000
C	£52,001 to £68,000
D	£68,001 to £88,000
E	£88,001 to £120,000
F	£120,001 to £160,000
G	£160,000 to £320,000
H	More than £320,000

Can I appeal against the valuation?

There are limited circumstances when you can challenge your banding:

• where you believe that the banding should be changed because there has been a material increase or material reduction in the propertys value (these terms are explained below)
• where you start or stop using part of your property to carry out a business, or the balance between domestic and business use changes
• where, following either of the above, the listing officer has altered a valuation list without a proposal having been made by the council taxpayer.

A material increase in value may result from building, engineering or other work carried out on the property. In these cases revaluation does not take place until after a sale - so that the person appealing would normally be the new owner or resident.

A material decrease in value may result from the demolition of any part of the property, any change in the physical state of the local area or an adaptation to make the property suitable for use by someone with a physical disability. In these cases revaluation should take place as soon as possible.

In addition, a challenge can be made within six months of:

• a band change to your property made by the listing officer
• a band change to a similar property to yours made by the Valuation Tribunal
• becoming a new taxpayer (eg if you have just moved into a property).

Please note that council tax bands are based on property values as at 1 April 1991. Recent purchase prices therefore are not necessarily the best evidence. Rebanding will not take place if the increase or reduction in value is relatively small and is not enough to move the dwelling to another band.

If you wish to make an appeal you should write to the listing office of the Inland Revenue ( and not to Portsmouth City Council) as follows: Listing Officer, Valuation Office Agency, Overline House, Blechynden Terrace, Southampton, SO15 1GW. Telephone: 023 8022 3654.

If you do decide to appeal against the valuation band of your property, please remember that you must keep your Council Tax paid up to date.

Associated documents:

  Council Tax: A guide to valuation banding & appeals (DCLG publication)  (0.18 MB)