Council Tax bands in Wales: the 2003 revaluation explained
Welsh bands rest on 1 April 2003 values, with nine bands from A to I. What that means for your evidence, the challenge form, appeals and refunds.
Welsh bands are based on what a home would have sold for on 1 April 2003, not 1991, and there are nine of them, A to I. Wales is the only part of the UK to have revalued since Council Tax began. The new bands have applied since April 2005. For a challenge, that means your evidence should come from around 2003. Sales are much easier to find for then than for 1991.
The bands
| Band | Value on 1 April 2003 |
|---|---|
| A | Up to £44,000 |
| B | £44,001 – £65,000 |
| C | £65,001 – £91,000 |
| D | £91,001 – £123,000 |
| E | £123,001 – £162,000 |
| F | £162,001 – £223,000 |
| G | £223,001 – £324,000 |
| H | £324,001 – £424,000 |
| I | Over £424,000 |
How the charge is worked out
As in England, each band pays a fixed fraction of the council's Band D charge. Band I pays 21/9:
Illustrative, assuming a Band D bill of £2,280. Bands A–H use the same ratios as England; Wales adds Band I at 21/9 — about 2⅓ times Band D, and three and a half times Band A.
Evidence from around 2003
GOV.UK asks for sales between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2005. HM Land Registry's free Price Paid Data starts in 1995, so it covers that whole window:
- Land Registry Price PaidSearch your street and the streets around it for 2001–05 sales. Search ↗
- Purchase papersYours or a neighbour’s completion statement, if bought in the window.
- Similar homes in a lower bandGOV.UK’s main ask, and it needs no sale: up to five nearby, the same type, size and age. How to find them
- Local newspaper archivesProperty pages from 1989–93, free at many libraries. Usually asking prices, so label them that way. Archive ↗
- Estate agents trading thenSome keep old sale particulars. It costs nothing to ask.
- Purchase papersYours or a neighbour’s completion statement, if bought in the window.
- Similar homes in a lower bandGOV.UK’s main ask, and it needs no sale: up to five nearby, the same type, size and age. How to find them
A sale from after the window can be adjusted back with a house-price index, but the result is an estimate, not evidence.
A sale of a similar home on your street in 2002 to 2004 is exactly the kind of evidence the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) asks for. Don't use a 1991 figure, or England's thresholds, for a Welsh home.
Otherwise the method is the same as England's: similar homes nearby in a lower band, matched on type, age and size (how to choose comparables).
Challenging a Welsh band
The VOA handles Welsh bands, as it does England's, and the routes are the same (proposal vs band review). The Welsh proposal form is separate from England's but now carries the same number, VO 7455. It used to be VO 7280. You can get it from GOV.UK.
Since 1 February 2026, if you disagree with the VOA's decision on a proposal, you appeal directly to the Valuation Tribunal for Wales, within four months of the decision. You can also appeal if the VOA hasn't decided within four months.
Refunds
If a Welsh band is lowered, the correction goes back at most six years, and only for the time you've been paying the bill. How backdating works has the rule and the regulation behind it.
A revaluation is coming
Welsh law makes 2028 a revaluation year, with further revaluations every five years after that. The Welsh Government hasn't yet announced the new bands or values. Until the new list takes effect, the 2003 bands are the ones that count.
Our free check and £39 challenge both cover Wales and use the 2003 thresholds.
- GOV.UK — Challenge your Council Tax band
- GOV.UK — How Council Tax bands are assessed
- Valuation Office Agency (VOA)
Links open on GOV.UK. We explain the rules in plain English; the official guidance is always definitive.
See how your band compares with similar homes.
The check grades the evidence for your postcode, including when a challenge isn’t worth making. It’s free; the £39 challenge is optional.