Crosswords0 min ago
Council tax - the changes
Is it true that if you have got a shed/patio/extension or conservatory that you are likely to pay higher CT? If it is true - can someone explain how having a shed or patio will make any difference to the costs the councils pay out for - as I won't have any more rubbish, I won't use any more police etc, I won't use any more street lighting and so on and so on.
Thanks
Answers
No best answer has yet been selected by DannyK. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Thanks for the replies. I get confused with all this as the CT breakdown statement for 2006/7 that I have just got is purely for services, and whilst I can appreciate if I were to live in a 5 bed house the chances are that more people would live there etc, but I would still only get 1 bin collected a week, the same street-lighting etc. Water and other utilities are charged on usage accordingly. I don't understand the where the value of the house comes into it...?! I know they had to start somewhere but this whole idea of rebanding sue to extension, conservatory and patio business is nonsense surely?
Having said that - do we know they are definately going to be doing this or is it still a rumour?
Single people pay 25% less council tax automatically by the way.
In the budget it is clear that houses in England are going to be re-evaluated (it has already happened in Wales) in readiness for 2007 council tax bills.
The councils obviously cannot physically inspect each and every home, but they will look at those that have been given planning permission in recent years.
When the Council Tax came in, roving bands of valuers were commissioned to take a view of the valuations. They did it by taking windscreen tours of areas - not by individual inspection. One might expect the same sort of exercise again. It only impacts properties that are deemed to move across a valuation threshold from one band to another (could in theory be up OR down).
You might think that in theory for every 'loser' in the Council Tax payments lottery there should be a 'winner' (someone who gains) because the amount each Council needs to raise through the tax doesn't change - its the relative contribution paid by all the householders that changes. Oh no! If the amount raised through the tax increases, apparently central government will reduce the amount they contribute to the council to funding local services. If true, this is yet another of Gordon's stealth taxes.