Council Tax

Firstly, I must say that I have Googled this and searched on all kinds of threads in vain...

We will be living in a student flat owned by a university (in Durham, if that makes any difference). Hubs will be a student (PhD), but I will be working.
AFAIK, I will have to pay council tax. Now, I have absolutely no clue as to how much I will have to pay.
At the moment we don't know which flat we'll be living in, but one will be a studio, and the other possible one will be one-bedroom.
The rent will be around 350-450.

Would anybody be able to give me  a ballpark estimate? Even knowing whether it'll be closer to 50 quid than a hundred per month would make a world of difference at this point.

Any guesstimates welcome.

Also, how will I go about this? Whom do I need to contact, or will I simply get a letter telling me to pay?

http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/cti_home.htm

That will tell you the council tax band of the property.  Then you should be able to go to your council's website and find out what the council tax is for that band.

Thank you, although given the fact that I don't know the address doesn't really help... also, isn't one supposed to know the value of the house? This, obviously I don't have a clue of... Thanks anyway.

It would be the value of the house as at 1991 (I think that's the year) - when the did the last valuations for Council tax purposes.  So it's not the current value of the house, sorry.

You really need to get the address to check it out - council tax is very house-specific.  If you get the two possible addresses from someone (at the university, maybe?), you can plug them in and get the information.

The people renting should be able to tell you what council tax band you're in.

Hey - another Durham student here...Our council tax is Band G and its 2155/year.  I'd say yours would be at least half of that - if not more - because this is a big house in an expensive part of town.  Gotta love that student exemption!!  Anyway, on my old bill, there's a couple of contacts -

0191 301 8626
rev.ben@durhamcity.gov.uk

Hope that helps!

Thank you all!
Hubs was able to provide an approximate address, and we should be in band H, which looks like 1700 a year. Hmm... DAMN expensive, if you ask me! I'd get it if you actually got something for your money, but it doesn't seem like that to me...

The Council should send you a booklet/pamphlet telling you exactly where the council tax monies go.  Ours does.

Thank you all!
Hubs was able to provide an approximate address, and we should be in band H, which looks like 1700 a year. Hmm... DAMN expensive, if you ask me! I'd get it if you actually got something for your money, but it doesn't seem like that to me...

Well, your rubbish is collected for one thing.   

we should be in band H, which looks like 1700 a year. Hmm... DAMN expensive, if you ask me! I'd get it if you actually got something for your money, but it doesn't seem like that to me...

I dont know what its like where you will be living, but in my council, the tax pays for police & fire services, rubbish collection, and water supply!  

I'd say those services are pretty worthwhile!  

Council tax is the amount payable by local residents for local services, such as refuse collection, recreation, planning, housing benefits, social services, education, fire services, libraries and police.

Durham City Council collects the payments on behalf of itself, Durham County Council, Durham Police Authority and the local parish councils.

There is one bill for each property, based on a 50% property charge and a 50% personal charge. This is based on two adults living in a property, with reductions if there are less, but no additions if there are more persons.

Our montly council tax bill also includes a charge for sewage, water and rubbish collection. 

That's actually not bad for band H.  We pay £131/month for Band C - and it's going up 5% next year! 

We pay about £87 per month for Band B - and are NOT looking forward to the rise! 

At the moment we don't know which flat we'll be living in, but one will be a studio, and the other possible one will be one-bedroom.
The rent will be around 350-450.
Hubs was able to provide an approximate address, and we should be in band H, which looks like 1700 a year. Hmm... DAMN expensive, if you ask me! I'd get it if you actually got something for your money, but it doesn't seem like that to me...

This doesn't seem to jive, £350-450/month and band H doesn't seem to go together.  Band H, I believe is the highest band of all, I would expect rents to be in the neighborhood of £2000/month or more?  Certainly, a studio apartment shouldn't be in Band H unless the walls are made of gold!

I've thought about this council tax revaluation thing, perhaps someone who's been living in Wales for a few years might know (as they revalued the bands in 2003 there) but all things being equal, won't the relative values of houses be about the same?  Therefore, the banding will change to reflect the new house values?  ie a £200,000 house in 1991 might have been in Band H, but now a £500,000 might constitute Band H?  Same goes for Band D which is sort of considered the middle-band, house worth £75,000 in 1991 and house worth £200,000 in 2005 would probably both be in Band D so your property that has gained £125,000 in the past 15 years still ends up in the same band.  Or am I being naive about this?

Matt

I dont know what its like where you will be living, but in my council, the tax pays for police & fire services, rubbish collection, and water supply

Well, rubbish I can understand, but since water is charged separately I feel a bit cheated...
If council tax pays for police & fire services, what does actual income tax money go towards?!

This doesn't seem to jive, £350-450/month and band H doesn't seem to go together.  Band H, I believe is the highest band of all, I would expect rents to be in the neighborhood of £2000/month or more?  Certainly, a studio apartment shouldn't be in Band H unless the walls are made of gold!

Well, I guess this is where I get screwed. The apartments are at a Uni college, which is at a prime location and a huge building.