Garden Tax on the cards?
Discussion
Spare tyre said:
Shirley someone would have to measure it an them implement which would cost a daft amount
With high res imaging (15-30cm) that is commercially available + land registry + some automation you could probably build a platform fairly cheaply if you just had a small/medium/large/vast set of taxation rather than per square meter.Tankrizzo said:
Given Labour haven't announced too much in the way of policy yet I would just worry about what is in front of you rather than hypotheticals tbh.
It's not a UK Labour speculative policy.It's a Welsh Labour actual policy coming very soon. Nice large gardern? That's an increase. Done an extension or conversatory? That's an increase. Live near good public transport links? That's an increase...
https://12ft.io/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate...
Edited by ChemicalChaos on Tuesday 14th May 12:24
Tankrizzo said:
Given Labour haven't announced too much in the way of policy yet I would just worry about what is in front of you rather than hypotheticals tbh.
That's probably because if they did announce their policies – and the implications of those policies – they'd suddenly lose a significant number of votes. 
Rufus Stone said:
TUS373 said:
Excuse me for putting this in the Lounge, but more people will see it if kept here rather than in the politics area.
How did that work out for you. 
TUS373 said:
Excuse me for putting this in the Lounge, but more people will see it if kept here rather than in the politics area.
I was not aware of this, but just told by my mother-in-law (who has far more time than me to listen to the news) that Labour are considering changing the way council tax is managed, by including a factor about how big a house's garden is. I think this must be a seed (excuse the pun) from the Corbyn days, but I gather that is already being used in Wales. It is said that councils will survey properties by drone, so if you have a sizeable garden (and I don't know what that means in real terms) you pay more tax.
There will be people way more aware than I about this on here, and no doubt those who may say "well, those that live in posh houses should pay more", but is this really likely to be a thing in the future, after a general election?
Your mother in law has been sucked in by click bait. I was not aware of this, but just told by my mother-in-law (who has far more time than me to listen to the news) that Labour are considering changing the way council tax is managed, by including a factor about how big a house's garden is. I think this must be a seed (excuse the pun) from the Corbyn days, but I gather that is already being used in Wales. It is said that councils will survey properties by drone, so if you have a sizeable garden (and I don't know what that means in real terms) you pay more tax.
There will be people way more aware than I about this on here, and no doubt those who may say "well, those that live in posh houses should pay more", but is this really likely to be a thing in the future, after a general election?
None-Facts and opinion and speculation and total bulls
t will be what most people will decide their next votes on. ChemicalChaos said:
It's not a UK Labour speculative policy.
It's a Welsh Labour actual policy coming very soon. Nice large gardern? That's an increase. Done an extension or conversatory? That's an increase. Live near good public transport links? That's an increase...
https://12ft.io/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate...
I did some digging on this. It's not an actual announced policy at all, as far as I can see. The Welsh gov have said they want to try and rework council tax and have commissioned the Valuation Office (I'd never heard of this before) to look at different ways of classifying houses. One of the many ideas appears to be gardens, outhouses etc. The source of all this seems to be a Telegraph "leak" from someone inside the process.It's a Welsh Labour actual policy coming very soon. Nice large gardern? That's an increase. Done an extension or conversatory? That's an increase. Live near good public transport links? That's an increase...
https://12ft.io/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate...
Edited by ChemicalChaos on Tuesday 14th May 12:24
Happy to be corrected though.
Edit: seemingly defending Labour makes me feel dirty
but I'd rather be worried about concrete policy announcements rather than leaks and rumours.Edited by Tankrizzo on Tuesday 14th May 12:34
vaud said:
Spare tyre said:
Shirley someone would have to measure it an them implement which would cost a daft amount
With high res imaging (15-30cm) that is commercially available + land registry + some automation you could probably build a platform fairly cheaply if you just had a small/medium/large/vast set of taxation rather than per square meter.It’s absolute madness that there has not been a council tax revaluation since 1991. The outcome is that even in the same town homes that are more expensive are in a lower band than cheaper ones nearby.
If there was to be a revaluation then all manner of modern methods would be used to check the survey data already held by the Valuation Office. Yes if you have a large garden you may pay more than someone with a smaller garden but only in the same way as you’d pay more for the house in the first place.
How can it be right that the owner of a house in Kensington and Chelsea costing £220 million pays less council tax than many people living in fairly standard 4 bed houses in many areas of the country?
There are plenty of complaints about business rates being too high but that could be solved by a council tax revaluation with those in the most expensive houses paying more.
If there was to be a revaluation then all manner of modern methods would be used to check the survey data already held by the Valuation Office. Yes if you have a large garden you may pay more than someone with a smaller garden but only in the same way as you’d pay more for the house in the first place.
How can it be right that the owner of a house in Kensington and Chelsea costing £220 million pays less council tax than many people living in fairly standard 4 bed houses in many areas of the country?
There are plenty of complaints about business rates being too high but that could be solved by a council tax revaluation with those in the most expensive houses paying more.
Yertis said:
Tankrizzo said:
Given Labour haven't announced too much in the way of policy yet I would just worry about what is in front of you rather than hypotheticals tbh.
That's probably because if they did announce their policies – and the implications of those policies – they'd suddenly lose a significant number of votes. Getragdogleg said:
How long before we get to the point where we are paid directly to the Govt and they dribble a little bit back to us and we say thanks ?
I guess in reality they may not get away with it here, but I think the nut jobs in charge (any colour, it doesn’t matter now) these days, driven by globalists and net zero zealots, would love that. Already gone that way in China, with social credit scores and social/financial restrictions linked to it etc. Universal basic income is a real thing being worked on here, along with CBDC in the near future. Apparently it’s a conspiracy, even though it’s easy to find govt info on it.
Spare tyre said:
Possibly, I was thinking that, however, we have a massive overgrown bush that’s about 12ft wide along our boundary with next door, the other neighbours have no boundary etc
True but you can overlay Land Registry data and I think lidar data is also available.If you were just approximating (<500sq ft, <1000sq ft, <5000 sq ft, <20,000 sq ft and 20,000 sq ft - all guesses) then the data would probably be good enough.
You could then have a model of borderline cases allocated to a lower band, or use the drone model for appeals.
My point is I think you could get to 90% with existing data.
Chrisgr31 said:
How can it be right that the owner of a house in Kensington and Chelsea costing £220 million pays less council tax than many people living in fairly standard 4 bed houses in many areas of the country?
There are plenty of complaints about business rates being too high but that could be solved by a council tax revaluation with those in the most expensive houses paying more.
Alternatively you might look at the purpose of council tax, which is to fund the services provided by the local council like rubbish collections and streetlights, and ask how someone's use of those services is in any way related to the value of their house?There are plenty of complaints about business rates being too high but that could be solved by a council tax revaluation with those in the most expensive houses paying more.
(In fact any correlation is likely to be inverse, in that wealthier people tend to use fewer state provided services).
It's a fair bet that taxes will go up under a Labour government, the question is where they will be applied.
My fear is that they will crank up road tax for petrol & diesel, abolish the pre-March 2006 levels and tax all those polluting classics.
Not sure how the garden tax would work for old council houses still in public sector ownership, that have generous gardens.
My fear is that they will crank up road tax for petrol & diesel, abolish the pre-March 2006 levels and tax all those polluting classics.
Not sure how the garden tax would work for old council houses still in public sector ownership, that have generous gardens.
Chrisgr31 said:
How can it be right that the owner of a house in Kensington and Chelsea costing £220 million pays less council tax than many people living in fairly standard 4 bed houses in many areas of the country?
There are 2 bed flats worth more than detached residence's up north. Surely you are not advocating that the South pay the greater share of tax because of the disparity in house prices?Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff