NSW Land Value Objection in Order to Pay Less Council Rates

Thenarrator on 18/01/2017 - 16:40
Last edited 19/01/2017 - 10:28 by 1 other user

Recently received in the letter box a land value assessment done by NSW Government Valuer (www.valuergeneral.nsw.gov.au).
This land value is the basis used by councils to determine council rates each year.

It is also the basis used by government to charge owners land tax.

The letter says I can object. Thinking of holding an objection of them valuing it so high so as to charge excessive amounts of council rate. Has anyone tried this? On what foot do i stand to object given that I'm less resourceful than them in proving my case. How am i expected to go through a economical analysis of the value of my land when they employ people full time to do statistical analysis of land values?

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Comments

  • Baysew on 18/01/2017 - 16:57
    +3

    I think you have already answered your own questions.

    On what foot do i stand to object given that I'm less resourceful than them in proving my case. How am i expected to go through a economical analysis of the value of my land when they employ people full time to do statistical analysis of land values?

    Just because your rates are high, doesn't mean that the valuation is wrong.

  • djkelly69 on 18/01/2017 - 16:57

    What makes you think you know the value of the land better than people employed
    "full time to do statistical analysis of land values"??

    • Thenarrator on 18/01/2017 - 17:08

      i dont.

      • djkelly69 on 18/01/2017 - 17:19

        You are wasting your time unless you have a reason/s why you believe the land value is too high.

        You do realise your land value increasing is a good thing?!

  • holdenmg on 18/01/2017 - 21:01

    So, let me understand this…

    Is the reason you want the Land Value Review http://www.valuergeneral.nsw.gov.au/land_values/request_a_re… because you believe the first Valuer from the Valuer General's Office and the Council are colluding to drive up the Council rates?

    Or… (just maybe) the Council (and the Council alone) are driving the Rates up.

    The process by which you can get a Land Value Review are stated (above), but you should ask under what circumstances (if any) you might be liable for the cost of the second Valuation, e.g. if the second valuation was the same as the first.

    • djkelly69 on 18/01/2017 - 22:01
      +1

      Or… (just maybe) the Council (and the Council alone) are driving the Rates up.

      Council doesn't need land values to go up to increase the amount they get from your rates - they can just increase the percentage they take.

  • StewBalls on 18/01/2017 - 21:27

    I've had VG valuations over the years that actually went down; however, no commensurate effect on rates or resale value…I honestly don't know how they work these things out.

  • Elppa8 on 18/01/2017 - 21:55
    +1

    You can do an objection on line giving reasons why you object. Do some research on property sales over recent years to see if the increase in value matches or not. Although the valuation is on unimproved land value, the increase is based on property sales as well as other factors. On their site is a list of properties in your area that they used for your valuation. You can search for property sales there too and any land valuations you want to look at and if the property has been renowned. You will need to show why your property is worth less than others in the area or would be less saleable. Could be that your property is overshadowed by a high rise or there is a sewer easement through your property or next to factory. If they accept your objection someone other than the original valuer will arrange a visit with you to inspect. There is no charge for a review.

  • Oofy Doofy on 18/01/2017 - 22:51

    I'm with the OP on this. I bought a house on 600sqm in 09, sold in 16, land valuation doubled in that time but sold property for less than 10% more than purchase price. Inner Brisbane suburb. The people doing land valuations have no interest in keeping things realistic.

    I would say it's just my opinion, but it's a fact.

    • whooah1979 on 18/01/2017 - 23:10
      +1

      land valuation doubled in that time but sold property for less than 10% more than purchase price.

      land is an appreciating asset, while the building/house is a depreciating asset.

      • Oofy Doofy on 19/01/2017 - 13:58

        yes, so…. 10% more on something that has supposedly appreciated 100% equals a shortfall of 90%. Dwelling condition and what it has/offers also affect the valuation of a property. I was purely basing the council decision that the land value had doubled = BS.

    • djkelly69 on 19/01/2017 - 08:52
      +1

      I bought a house on 600sqm in 09, sold in 16, land valuation doubled in that time but sold property for less than 10% more than purchase price. Inner Brisbane suburb.

      That is a fact (presumably).

      The people doing land valuations have no interest in keeping things realistic.

      That is an opinion.

      There are also other reasons this can happen (you paid too much for the property for instance).

      • Oofy Doofy on 19/01/2017 - 13:59

        At most maybe 5% more than it was worth (but it's hard to say really, kind of splitting hairs). I have access to RPDATA and do my homework.

        Considering the dwelling types in the area, and the fact there hasn't been sale of a block of land that's left over or because a place has been bulldozed, the valuations are guided on what properties sell for overall in the area, but there are many multi level houses around that sell for 900-1 mil on the same size block… I really don't think they are doing their calculation properly for realistic land valuations. I would say they are missing the mark by about 100k or more in the area I sold.

  • Euphemistic on 19/01/2017 - 09:25

    What difference is objecting going to make? The valuation is compared to similar properties in the area. Assuming you do get it re-valued downwards, all your neighbours are going to see a similar re-valuation downwards. The rates are going to change relative to the values in the area, so you probably wont see a rate reduction anyway.

    The main reason you would want your valuation reviewed is if you pay land tax.

    • Oofy Doofy on 19/01/2017 - 14:09

      Goes by average sale price of dwellings in the area, not of similar properties. They don't do it the way you state because it's annoying for them to sort through comparable dwellings on the same sized blocks.

      I should have noted I am talking about things in relation to the BCC in QLD, which without a doubt are likely to be different in the way they do things compared to NSW. Don't you love state governments? haha

      • Euphemistic on 19/01/2017 - 15:57

        It's only a value on the unimproved value of the land. The house has nothing to do with it. It is based on land size, location slope etc

        • Oofy Doofy on 19/01/2017 - 16:44

          So how can it increase 100% in value if the price of property in the area is not in line with this? If you pay 500k for a house and the land (at fair value) that for some reason gets valued at double what it was (the land component) after you have been paying rates on it at the lesser land valuation, the land can't increase that much and then the house be worth next to nothing. Do you see where I'm going with this?

          Let's say you purchase a 500k property, land valued by council at 250k, you live in it for a few years, new rates valuation of 500k for the land, a few years after this you sell the property and you get 550k (fair value, not sold below market value for equivalent properties in the area)…. the only way the council could have any case for the new valuation is if they then consider the value of the house itself to be less…. much much less than what it was worth at your 500k purchase price. I find that extremely hard to fathom unless the house is a pos that hasn't been looked after at all and has basically become uninhabitable.

          It's only a value on the unimproved value of the land. The house has nothing to do with it. It is based on land size, location slope etc

          How is it possible they can make an estimation on land value unless they have enough figures to play with in terms of value of the land without a dwelling? Because of this lack of new data, they would be doing estimations from very old land purchases and adding inflation and average property sales to find their dollar value. I believe they are off by a considerable margin, at least in the area I'm talking about.

        • Euphemistic on 19/01/2017 - 20:04

          @Bamboozle: it's just the way it is worked out. The land valuation is not done by the council, but a state govt department, based on the whole state, not the local council so they can get more rates. Then on top of that there is rate pegging which means the council is limited by how much they can increase rates (in NSW at least). The increase is around CPI unless there is a special increase granted.

          Pretty much no land valuation is going to go up 100% in a few years as you suggest, unless all of a sudden a beach appears.

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