Is your council tax band too high?
Bands were set on property values from 1991 (2003 in Wales), and plenty were got wrong. Check yours against that valuation, see the real risk before you challenge, and generate a pre-filled letter to the Valuation Office or Assessor. Free, no sign-up.
A guide, not financial or legal advice. The band thresholds are the published valuation bands for England and Scotland (1991) and Wales (2003). Northern Ireland uses domestic rates on capital values, not bands. This tool doesn't value your property — you supply the historical estimate from the free official sources. Always confirm with the Valuation Office Agency or your local Assessor. Nothing you type here leaves your browser.
How to tell if your band is wrong.
1. The neighbour check. Look up the bands of similar properties on your street, free, on the gov.uk council tax band search (England and Wales) or the Scottish Assessors site. If near-identical homes are in a lower band than yours, that's strong evidence something's off.
2. The valuation check. Work out what your home was worth on the valuation date — 1 April 1991 in England and Scotland, 1 April 2003 in Wales. Take a known sale price from around then, or take today's value and work it back using the free UK House Price Index. Then check which band that value falls into — that's what this tool does.
You need both to point the same way before challenging. The neighbour check alone can be misleading (their band might be the wrong one), and the valuation check alone is only an estimate. Together they're the case the Valuation Office actually wants to see.
It's free to challenge directly and you never have to use a paid agent. If the band is reduced you can get a backdated refund — sometimes for many years. But because a review can also push a band up, and affect neighbours, it pays to be sure first.
One home, every detail in order.
Stead keeps your property's paperwork, bills, maintenance and reminders together — so the things worth checking, like whether you're overpaying, don't get lost in the pile.