In Wokingham alone, my checks flag about 1,500 flats and 1,300 houses in Bands B to D that look a band too high. Yet only about 1 home in 600 is challenged each year. I'm opening area by area. Join the list and you'll be first to get your result.
Join the list. It's free →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 pack, send. When the VOA writes back, forward it to me and I draft the reply.
Your time: under ten minutes, plus a forward when a letter arrives. Your stress: 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 | 25–35% 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 | Me, apart from the 5-minute send | I'm one person, so I'm opening area by area. Hence the list. |
The check is free for everyone. For homes in Bands A to D, the challenge is free as well: I do the whole thing and you sign. Homes in Bands E to H pay a flat fee, and that pays for the free help. Never a cut of your refund.
Check
£0
See how your band compares with the same-sized homes near you.
Bands E–H · Evidence pack
£49
A ready-to-send pack for the formal route. You file it yourself.
Bands E–H · I handle it
£169
Start to finish. You do the 5-minute send; I do the rest.
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 I can check homes in your area. One email, with your result in it.
I use them to email you when your area opens, and to decide where to open first. They're never sold, and never shared with the council or the VOA. The full notice is below.