Man sends neighbours' council bills soaring

3:17am Wednesday 11th July 2007

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A pensioner's campaign to receive fair council tax has landed his neighbours with bigger monthly bills.

John Pigden, 69, of Crest Way, Portslade, discovered that out of eight identical three-bedroom detached houses built in the same road, two were paying Band E bills, including Mr Pigden, while the others were forking out £50 less on Band D.

The former marketing man decided to take on the Valuation Office Agency, which is responsible for setting the council tax bands, to recoup 15 years of overpayment.

But Mr Pigden has now learned that he has been paying the correct amount since buying his home in 1992, while his neighbours are set to see their bills rise by £600 a year.

Valuation officers made the conclusion after several trips to the road.

Mr Pigden said: "I wouldn't have thought I am the most popular man in the street but the neighbours understand.

"If the Valuation Office has managed to get 75 per cent of the houses on a street wrong there must be an awful lot of people paying the wrong amount across the city.

"For 15 years no-one has noticed that identical houses are paying different council taxes - it is absurd."

Steve Wells, 36, is one of Mr Pidgen's neighbours who will now be expected to pay an extra £50 a month in council tax.

He said: "The first I heard about it was when John said he was in a different banding and I thought he would get some money back but that's not what's happened.

"I'm not particularly happy to have to pay this extra money. I moved here four years ago and it was in band D then. Now, because of administrative errors by the council I am having to pay more money.

"There are about ten of us who have been affected by this."

He said he bears no hard feelings towards Mr Pidgen who, he said, was doing exactly as he would have done.

A spokeswoman from the Valuation Office Agency said letters had been sent to Mr Pigden's neighbours to inform them they had been undercharged.

She said: "The Valuation Office Agency is responsible for valuing domestic properties for the purposes of council tax. It ensures that those properties are placed in the correct bands according to their value based on sale prices in 1991.

"Upon review of the property at Crestway, and looking at sales evidence for properties in this area we are satisfied that it is in the correct band."

Could your house be in the wrong band? Have you tried to have it revalued for council tax? Leave your comments below.