Retirement villagers overcharged council tax

The Redhill retirement village comprises 113 one or two-bed flats, bungalows and houses

Residents of a retirement village in Surrey will receive up to £9,000 after it was confirmed their homes have been in the wrong council tax band for two decades.

Band E homes at Oaklands Park retirement village, in Redhill, have become band D, and the former band D homes are now band C.

Residents have been fighting against the bands their homes fall into since council tax was introduced in 1993, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) said it works “extremely hard” hard to ensure properties are valued correctly for council tax purposes.

Oakland Park was built in 1989 and initially valued highly because retirement villages were uncommon at the time.

Prices soon reduced to their natural market value - significantly less than originally priced.

'Joy and disbelief'

Properties are assigned a council tax band based on their value. When the VOA was assigning homes in Oakland Park to their bands, it used the values from when they were originally sold.

Residents have won the council tax battle for all 113 properties and will get a rebate backdated to 1993.

“It was a complete turnaround we didn’t expect it, we didn’t expect it to go back that far, it’s a huge result for income-limited pensioners,” said Marilyn Rodd, chairwoman of the Oaklands Park Residents Association.

“It’s disbelief and absolute joy and everyone is thrilled. There is happiness at Oaklands Park.”

A spokesperson for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council said setting council tax bands is the responsibility of the VOA and that it wants people to pay the right amount.

The VOA said it could not comment on individual cases but that it works “extremely hard to ensure that all domestic properties are banded correctly” for council tax purposes.