Since 1996 residents of Oaklands Park, Earlswood, Redhill, have been seeking to address an evident unfairness in the Council Tax banding applied in 1993. Successive leaderships of the local Residents Associations have engaged with my office and their local councillors to put their case to the Valuation Office Agency.
In a path trod by Ted Earle, Oaklands Residents Association, Chair 15 years ago, in alliance with then Borough Councillor Rob Webb, I was pleased to support that submission to the VOA, followed by the other submissions that continued to put the case, not least as circumstances changed and evidence continued to emerge that only reinforced the residents’ case that they were overpaying council tax. County and Borough Councillor Barbara Thomson became a persistent proponent of their case, ensuring my office continued to be engaged in a determined coalition of local representatives as the years went by.
Finally, Marilyn Rodd, current Chair of Oaklands Park Residents Association has presided over this notable success for her and her neighbours, and all who have lived in Oaklands Park since 1993. Her campaign, assisted by the contributions of her current County and Borough Councillors, Jonathan Essex and Ruth Ritter, to appeal the current bandings have finally seen the VOA agree that the council tax bandings at Oaklands Park have been incorrect, since 1993. The bandings have now been amended with immediate effect. This type of ruling from the VOA is, I understand, extremely rare. After 30 years they are rarer still with backdated relief from overpaid Council Tax. Reigate and Banstead Council are also owed thanks for the speed with which they have delivered on the considerable implications of this long overdue ruling, that rights three decades of injustice.
This is an outstanding result for my constituents. Despite three decades of disappointment, they did not give up and justice has prevailed. My sincere thanks must go to Marilyn Rodd, but not forgetting her predecessor Chair of Oaklands Park Residents Association, Ted Earle. Generations of my Parliamentary assistants have been engaged alongside successive County and Borough Councillors. My personal thanks goes to Rob Webb and Barbara Thomson and current representatives Jonathan Essex and Ruth Ritter. I am most grateful to the Valuation Office Agency for finally ruling the just way on this and the Borough council for the speed of their implementation.
Background
The Oaklands Park development was constructed in 1989 as an assisted living community with the costs of ancillary services and care provided. At the time, a scarcity of freehold accommodation with care services included meant the 113 properties on the estate sold at an artificial premium resulting in the houses and bungalows being allocated Council Tax Band E and the flats being allocated Band D. Having reviewed the evidence again, and thanks to the hours of research undertaken by Marilyn Rodd in finding comparable properties, the Listing Officer at the VOA agreed that the inflationary effect on original house sale prices in Oaklands Park, caused by the personal benefits derived from access to the care centre should have been stripped out of the original valuation. They were satisfied that the dwellings were too highly banded in 1993. The new bandings will see houses and bungalows drop from Band E to Band D and for flats from Band D to Band C.