Is my Council Tax band wrong? The neighbours method explained

Your band may be wrong if several genuinely similar homes near you are in a lower band and nothing obvious explains the difference. "Similar" means the same type of home, of about the same age and size, on the same street or estate. Comparing yourself with them is known as the neighbours method, and it's the evidence GOV.UK asks for in a band review: the addresses of up to five similar homes in a lower band.

The test

1. Find your band on GOV.UK's band checker.
2. List six to ten homes nearby that look like yours, whatever their band. Include the ones in your band and above, not only the lower ones.
3. Note each one's type, floors, rooms and when it was built.
4. Cross off the poor matches and look at the bands of the homes that are left.

What counts as similar

GOV.UK lists type, size (bedrooms and total floor area), age, and style and design. In a town, comparables should be on the same street or estate; in the countryside, in the same village or area. The VOA's own guidance adds that size can usually vary by about 10%, and to go by floor area rather than bedrooms. How to choose comparables goes through each point.

Reading the pattern

• Most good matches are a band lower, and nothing explains it. That's worth gathering evidence for.
• The good matches are spread across bands. Find out what separates them before you do anything. A mixed picture is weak evidence, and it can prompt a look at whether your own band is too low.
• Most good matches share your band or sit above it. Your band is probably right.

Our free check runs this comparison for every home at your postcode. It matches on type, era and EPC floor area, and treats a clear majority of good matches in a lower band as a strong signal. Those thresholds are our method, not VOA rules.

What it can't show

The comparison shows whether your band is out of line with similar homes. It doesn't show what your home was worth in 1991; for that you need sales from around the valuation date. And if a whole street was banded too high together, every neighbour matches you and nothing looks wrong. Sale prices can reveal that (using sale prices).

Why would similar homes be banded differently at all? Bands explained covers how the bands were set, and why an early mistake can still be on the list.