Martin Lewis warns anyone who's lived in same house since 1991

Martin Lewis has issued a warning to anybody who's lived in the same home since before 1991. Council tax valuations have been left unchanged since 1991, meaning UK households may be paying too much council tax for their property, the BBC star says.

ITV regular Martin said: “These are the checks you need to do. The check and challenge system is my system, it is not an official system, this is my way to give you a level of safety. Nothing here is perfect, I cannot guarantee perfection.

“The first check is the neighbours check. Is your hand higher than neighbours in nearby preferably identical or similar homes? You don’t need to ask them, you can simply go on and check your band at gov.uk for England and Wales.

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“If it looks like you’re in a higher band than many of your neighbours in similar homes, the second check, which can’t be used in evidence, is your safety check. What was your house worth in 1991? Because it is still those 1991 prices that dictate what band you are in.”

Martin added: “So if you bought your house after 1991, it’s quite easy you just find the price and the sale date. If it was earlier than that, then you go onto those property websites like Zoopla and Rightmove and you try to find a similar property that’s been sold since that point that you’re going to be able to track down.

“And then you want to back calculate its value in 1991 prices. And there are free check and challenge calculators online that will convert this for you.” He added: “I would only look at challenging my banding if I passed clearly both tests.

“That’s because you can’t ask for your band to be lowered. You can ask for your band to be looked at. And that means, well, if you only pass the neighbours check, if could mean it’s not you who’s in too high a band, it’s all your neighbours in too low a band, and when you ask for this, their band goes up, which will not make you very popular.”