Council tax completion notice
Completion notices are sent by a local council. They set the date a new or altered property should appear in the valuation list. If you are unhappy with the date, you can appeal to us. This service is free.
This page explains how the appeal process works and provides resources for each stage.
The appeal process
If you would like to appeal the decision made by your local council, please first review the step-by-step process below.
There are also some helpful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) beneath the appeal process.
Understand what an appeal involves
To make an appeal you’ll first need to complete an appeal form and provide information and evidence to support your case. You’ll find details on how to do this below.
You must make the appeal within 4 weeks from the date you received the completion notice. You do not need to contact your council before you appeal.
If your case is accepted, you will then be expected to attend an appeal hearing to present your case to the Valuation Tribunal, who will make the final decision.
The appeal process currently takes about 9 months, from submission of an appeal form to final decision.
What issues can I appeal?
The date the council say the property is complete.
Complete the appeal form
If you want to appeal, please complete an appeal form. In the appeal form you should explain why the date set by the council is wrong.
The form needs to be completed in one session (there is no option to save a part-completed form).
You will also need to attach a copy of the completion notice to the appeal form.
Appeal registration
We will check your appeal form and register the appeal if we have all the information. We aim to register appeals within 10 working days of receiving them.
We will let you know when the appeal is registered.
Once registered, we aim to set (known as list) a date for an appeal hearing within 5 months from the registration date.
If we cannot register the appeal, we will let you know why.
Preparing your evidence
We aim to give you 10 weeks’ notice of your hearing date, to give you time to prepare.
During this time, you need to gather the evidence to support your case.
Please allow plenty of time to do this. For more information, see how to gather your evidence.
At this point in the process, we’ll also send you guidance booklets about the hearing and how to prepare your evidence.
Attend the hearing
Appeals are decided by the Valuation Tribunal panel at the appeal hearing. At the current time, all hearings are conducted remotely using online/audio visual conferencing software.
The tribunal is impartial and independent. The tribunal will listen to both sides before making a decision.
During the hearing:
- The panel will ask you and the council to present your cases.
- You will be able to ask questions.
- You may be asked questions.
We try to make the hearing as informal as we can, and we will try put everyone at ease. However, these are judicial proceedings, so there is some formality.
The decision
The panel will make its decision on the evidence and arguments, bearing in mind what the law (legislation and case law) allows.
Our decision is not normally given at the hearing.
We will send you a decision notice (with reasons) within 1 month of the hearing by your preferred method of communication. If this period is likely to be exceeded, then the clerk to the hearing will contact you with information on when you can expect your decision.