Cut benefits before increasing council tax

He also increased corporation tax for 19% to 25%.

FGS how about looking at the billionaires who pay sod all. Don’t attack people who are struggling too

The funny thing about all this hysteria over tax rises is that Jeremy Hunt actually cut the rate of NI by 4% before the last election.

I don't remember all this shrieking over tax when we were paying 4% more in NI - seems to be only a Labour government that generates this crap.

As for cuts we've had nothing but cuts for fourteen years and guess what - everything is now more expensive as a result! What do you think happened to all those kids growing up in poverty, the ones who didn't have access to Sure Start, to help from CAMS, to youth centres? They're all costing us more money now!

I could easily afford my Band F house because it's barely worth 300K - I can't afford my Band F council tax to double.

😂 love this

Exactly

I agree. Every house in my road is band C or band D.

A large number of them have been extended over the years and some are now double the size they were originally, more in some cases, and are now worth significantly more than the non-extended ones. They also house more people and presumably have a greater impact on council services, but the family of 5 in a 5-bed house still pay the same council tax as a pensioner couple living alone in a 2-bed.

Revaluation of properties for council tax is well overdue imo.

Well if you look at my area all the listed buildings, even quite small ones, were given band F. The local story is that the council employee who was responsible for banding dumped them all in the same band. You can’t value houses accurately if they haven’t been on the market. Ours had been owned by the same family for a century when we bought it. And it wasn’t worth anything like what it was originally marketed at. Hence no interest for 4 years. Unless you update the record based on averages in the year a house sells it is all a fiction.

Martin Lewis did a great explanation on why CT has to be reformed and why those in the higher bands have to pay more.

As he explained, a Band C house in Hartlepool is paying more than a band F or G in Westminster, despite that house being worth many times more.

He also went on to say they'll be winners and losers but help should be offered to those who genuinely cannot afford the higher council tax and offer deferred payment, so CT comes out of the estate, where you ve an elderly owner house rich, cash poor.

But as usual, we always run into those with the most, moaning the most, they really are holding back the country.

So true.

New build houses tend to get bunged into very high bands for whatever reason.

Remember that the bands were set by taking the average house price for an area and making that D, then applying fixed percentages up and down to determine the rest.

So you can live in a part of the country or a council area that's deprived, and your ordinary house will be in band F/G/H because it's above average for that specific area. People on normal incomes will live in these houses, and just because the area is deprived, their transport, utilities, groceries etc aren't somehow any cheaper than elsewhere in the country.
How on earth are people like that meant to find another 3K per year?

A small income tax rise would be far fairer, but Labour don't quite dare to break their manifesto pledge to that extent so are happy to instead hammer a smaller percentage of people on the assumption that everyone else will think they're taxing "the rich".

8 of the 10 lowest council tax bills in England are in London.

“In Pendle, a borough in Lancashire in the North West, residents pay the highest proportion of income on council tax in England – at 10.97% of a person’s median annual income.
This equates to £2,535.19 spent yearly on council tax for people on an average annual income of £23,100.
Pendle has the highest level of child poverty of any UK local authority, with 43.2% of children under the age of 16 living in relatively low-income families in 2022/23.
City of London borough residents, on the other hand, pay the lowest, with 2.10% of someone’s annual median income going to council tax.
This means they are paying £1,274.07 a year in council tax, on average incomes of £60,700.
Yet the area is home to some of the most expensive property in London, with 13% of homes worth more than £2 million, according to a recent study by property brokers Jefferies James.
The data shows how council tax creates a much higher relative burden on households in areas where incomes are lower.
Overall, Northern and Midlands local authorities dominate the top 20 highest tax burden areas, while London dominates the bottom 10.
David Burrows, head of Getamover.co.uk, says: “These figures show significant regional inequality in how council tax affects household budgets.
“For families planning a move, the relationship between local tax rates and average salaries can significantly affect long-term financial health.
“What matters isn’t just the headline council tax figure, but how much of your monthly income it will consume based on local wage levels.”

Clam down it’s a valid discussion. The benefits bill is getting out of hand whether that suits you or not but hey let’s not discuss it incase it upsets folk.

Council tax itself needs reforming. Its complete nonsense. We have the same size house as the OP and its Band A... because it was on an operational RAF base when the bands were introduced.
New builds that are smaller in our road are Band C.

Does that mean Benefits should be cut? No. I've never met anyone on UC etc whose rolling in it... mostly working out how to feed their children at the end of the month.

It's like groundhog day with disability benefit bashing on here at the moment.

Council tax bands were set in 1993 based on their value on 01 April 1991 - nothing to do with their age!

About the only one thing I agree with this loathsome gov't, and that's to hit those awful gambling/gaming joints that you see on every high street, usually in poorer parts.

If you want to benefit bash perhaps educate yourself first. How on earth did you pass affordability checks so recently with only that amount left per month - you should really stress test a variety of scenarios before committing to such a large monthly payment what happens if interest rates have risen when you are due to remortgage or one of you stops working?

It was your choice to buy a house that expensive in London, and stretch yourself so much financially.
Disabled people do not choose to be disabled.
I also suggest you educate yourself on the Motability scheme and PIP before coming out with tosh about people owning BMWs with your money.

Anxiety and an anxiety disorder are not the same thing

The problem op is I’m guessing you are still paying less than my band d property, council tax is cheap in London, is that fair???

the money needs to come from somewhere, cutting benefits will harm the least able to cope

You can't buy any car on the motobility scheme.

Exactly this i am on high rate mobility so would be entitled to lease a car but I get more use out of the money and I already own my own car why would I want to lease one that they could take away at anytime.

I live in a Band E house in London. My council tax is over £3000 per year.

This!