Gary Lewis v Listing Officer, Vale of Glamorgan Council

In council tax banding appeals, statutory valuation assumptions provide a common basis for comparison. They do not prevent a valuation tribunal from considering evidence of comparable dwellings assessed on the same material basis.

Where direct sales evidence at the applicable valuation date is unavailable, the tribunal may have regard to the tone of the list. Settlements of comparable appeals may constitute relevant assessments, particularly where little other evidence exists. Their weight is a matter for the specialist tribunal.

The appellant purchased a mobile home at Cambrian Residential Park and challenged its council tax banding. The Valuation Tribunal for Wales dismissed his appeal and confirmed Band D.

On an appeal on a point of law under regulation 32 of the Council Tax (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) Regulations 1993, the appellant argued that the tribunal had applied incorrect assumptions concerning freehold ownership and rent charges. He also argued that it had unlawfully relied on settlements reached in six other mobile-home appeals at the same park.

The central issues were whether the tribunal had erred in law by failing expressly to address the statutory assumptions and whether the settlements were permissible evidence of the appropriate band.

1. The appeal was dismissed. The tribunal’s decision that the mobile home fell within Band D disclosed no error of law.
2. The statutory assumptions in regulation 6 of the Council Tax (Situation and Valuation of Dwellings) Regulations 1992 are intended to provide a common basis for comparing dwellings sold or leased on different terms. The tribunal did not need to address the assumptions expressly because its decision was based on comparable assessments of other mobile homes at the same park. There was no suggestion that those homes were held on materially different terms or were subject to different rent charges.
3. The mobile home was a dwelling subject to council tax. It was the appellant’s sole or main residence, and the statutory provisions concerning domestic property and caravans applied.
4. The tribunal was entitled to use the tone of the list where direct sales evidence at the antecedent valuation date was unavailable. The decision in Dolmides v Listing Officer [2008] EWHC 3271 (Admin) concerned reliance on previous tribunal decisions rather than settlements, but the cited principle covered assessments settled in the absence of a hearing. Such assessments could carry greater weight than assessments under appeal.
5. In the circumstances, the six settlements were the most compelling evidence available. The tribunal was entitled to conclude that comparable properties exceeding 78 square metres had been placed in Band D, and that the appellant’s 96-square-metre mobile home would have exceeded the relevant Band D threshold at the applicable valuation date.

The parties were directed to file an agreed draft order, if possible, and written submissions on consequential matters such as costs within 14 days.

• Valuation Tribunal for Wales: On 11 September 2024, dismissed the appeal and determined that the mobile home should remain in Band D.
• High Court (Administrative Court): On an appeal on a point of law, dismissed the appeal.