Council Tax - what is the banding based on?
Discussion
Recently received my new council tax bill. Now whilst it's not gone up massively since last year I was amazed to find my neighbour is in the exactly the same band.
How do/did they calculate the bands? My neighbour has a 4 bed detached, double garage, study etc. We have a 3 bed detached, single garage.
He's recently sold his for around £390,000 (house move still going through), I think mine's probably worth around £270,000.
I don't understand how we can both be paying the same amount. FWIW around £1600 a year.
Anyone sucessfully challenged the council regarding their valuation?
Cheers,
Graham
PS. I also apprieciate that mine may be correct and my neighbour's incorrect! In which case I'd rather keep stum as I get on well with them!!
>>> Edited by Graham B on Wednesday 23 March 15:17
How do/did they calculate the bands? My neighbour has a 4 bed detached, double garage, study etc. We have a 3 bed detached, single garage.
He's recently sold his for around £390,000 (house move still going through), I think mine's probably worth around £270,000.
I don't understand how we can both be paying the same amount. FWIW around £1600 a year.
Anyone sucessfully challenged the council regarding their valuation?
Cheers,
Graham
PS. I also apprieciate that mine may be correct and my neighbour's incorrect! In which case I'd rather keep stum as I get on well with them!!
>>> Edited by Graham B on Wednesday 23 March 15:17
Which means I'd better get saving for when the council decide to send me a bill.anonymous said:
[redacted]
I don't want to scare people-but they are forecasting that 8 million people will go into a higher council tax band when this happens and that people's bills will rise by up to £800.
Guess who's going to get most screwed-yes you guessed it-people in the South.
>> Edited by JagLover on Wednesday 23 March 15:26
JagLover said:
I don't want to scare people-but they are forecasting that 8 million people will go into a higher council tax band when this happens and that people's bills will rise by up to £800.
Guess who's going to get most screwed-yes you guessed it-people in the South.
I thought the rule was that if you extended etc your property they could not increase your council tax band until the house changed hands?
What happened to that then?
Ribol said:
I don't want to scare people-but they are forecasting that 8 million people will go into a higher council tax band when this happens and that people's bills will rise by up to £800.
Guess who's going to get most screwed-yes you guessed it-people in the South.
I thought the rule was that if you extended etc your property they could not increase your council tax band until the house changed hands?
What happened to that then?
It's going to be a revaluation for the whole of England-the figures above are a forecast based on what happened in Wales with a similar exercise.
All I know is that the Council tax is to pay for local services which get fewer and fewer - in fact I end up doing more for what I am supposed to pay for in the first place.
Now they are looking at charging me more because my house valuation has gone up. Has my consumption of local services increased? Do I have more rubbish to collect now that my house is worth more? My house maybe worth more but does that mean I earn more? Has my mortgage payments gone down? Am I supposed to release equity from my house to pay for my council tax, off-setting the increase in its value?
Pah, its all ballcocks and the sooner they scrap it the better. Thousands for doing naff all.... great, now where was that soap again?
Now they are looking at charging me more because my house valuation has gone up. Has my consumption of local services increased? Do I have more rubbish to collect now that my house is worth more? My house maybe worth more but does that mean I earn more? Has my mortgage payments gone down? Am I supposed to release equity from my house to pay for my council tax, off-setting the increase in its value?
Pah, its all ballcocks and the sooner they scrap it the better. Thousands for doing naff all.... great, now where was that soap again?
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I would agree with you that a local income tax as a replacement would be a nightmare, as well as the rich it would also scr*w the young.
However I do believe that any sytem of tax has to have an element of being proportionate to the ability to pay-and even if I benefited or was left the same by a flat rate charge I do not think it is the way forward.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
TBH, thats all I want to do too - pay for what I use and consume.... seems fine to me and fair for all. I use more, I pay more. If I can use less I pay less.... the simplicity is just outstanding - and probably lost on the politicians who seem to think that it is the right of the wealthy / lucky / fortunate to pay for the workshy.....
Feeling particularily un-inspired today...
What I would like to know is where does all this money go?
Where I am(London) if a wheelie bin is empty for more than half an hour someone applies for planning permission to convert it into 4 luxury flats. Every time a house is split into 3 flats they end up with nearly three times as much as the original council tax from that same building.
The services are getting worse, the roads are worse, you pay to park in a Borough you did not used to - God forbid you ask the dustman to take away anything larger than a tea bag. We can now get fined £1000 for not recycling our waste. Council tax goes up every year in leaps and bounds - where does all the money go?
Where I am(London) if a wheelie bin is empty for more than half an hour someone applies for planning permission to convert it into 4 luxury flats. Every time a house is split into 3 flats they end up with nearly three times as much as the original council tax from that same building.
The services are getting worse, the roads are worse, you pay to park in a Borough you did not used to - God forbid you ask the dustman to take away anything larger than a tea bag. We can now get fined £1000 for not recycling our waste. Council tax goes up every year in leaps and bounds - where does all the money go?
Ribol said:
Council tax goes up every year in leaps and bounds - where does all the money go?
....and that is the problem. Services are getting worse and the costs going up. Its a double-whammy! Cant help thinking that some increase is to be expected with our modern litigious society, but the recent years have seen a major increase in cost and decrease in service....
Where it ends I dont know...
anonymous said:
[redacted]
That's unfair on people who can't be arsed working Tonker. Clearly the most equitable thing to do is penalise those with expensive houses because since house prices have gone up we're all richer aren't we? Well, that's what Gordon said anyway. Why can't they just raise the band valuations every year in line with house price inflation for that area, for example, if house prices have gone up 20% then all bands jump 20% as well. No houses would ever go up a band so there is no excuse for fleecing people based on increased property values putting them in a higher band...I think I may have answered my own question there.
I'm going to ask for a reduction as it costs me far more to live in my house than it would at 1991 values, I wonder what they'll say
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The problem of having such a clear distinction between national tax-proportionate on income and council tax-a flat charge for services provided-is that a hell of alot of government spending is funnelled through local councils. Also any system of taxation depends on the consent of those being taxed and the very idea of a flat charge is very unfair to some people.
Ultimatly I think council tax was an OK system when first set up-But it has become one of Labour's biggest stealth taxes because they have not provided the councils with sufficient funds to cover expenditure (which is usually government mandated spending).
I am a great believer in localism and I would be happy if more taxes and expenditure could be set at a local or regional level. Councils (or their larger replacements) could then have a variety of different sources of income-I think the example of the American State system is worth studying
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff