Council tax is a c**t

Whilst I'm no advocate for councils and the whole council tax system as it is, the money does pay for a huge amount more behind-the-scenes services and public costs than just emptying bins - although councils themselves acknowledge that the bin collections are the one 'flagship' CT-funded service that everybody sees and uses.

This does make it even more surprising in places like Birmingham, though, as they must surely find it utterly shocking for their public relations when they keep on forcing people to pay the CT when - for whatever reasons - they can't actually get so many people's bins emptied. If they can't/won't do that, it must make millions of Brummies wonder how many much less prominent services are being hugely underfunded and even completely cut out as well.

True but why is our rubbish collection allowance for a 4 bed house the same as that of a 1 bed house?

I would happily take my rubbish to the tip if it saved me from paying CT 😂

If Band D is supposed to be the 'average', it's ludicrous for councils and HAs to be building homes that end up in a higher band than that - both from the pov of the affordability for the residents and the politically-sensitive issue that some would complain about of the council 'giving' people homes that are better than 'average' private buyers and tenants can afford.

It’s just theft. I pay £3600 band G. I get bin pickups once every 3 weeks. Fuck all else.

Exactly! I'm in a 2 bed HA flat - BAND D 😳 -£150+ pm after SPD. My friend in a 3 bed house pays the same.
The new council / HA flats built in the town are all BAND E. An absolute pisstake.

There are certainly robust arguments for and against it, but it would have to be administered far, far better.

My DSis was 18 and a student when it came in (I was a few years younger) and she wasn't earning a penny - but she was expected to pay it anyway. In the end, our parents had to pay it for her, which was a huge struggle for them... but that completely blows out of the water the concept of it being a per person tax.

At least with CT, you can always (theoretically) move to a smaller/less desirable/cheaper home and pay less if you can't afford the current cost; but if the cost is the same per adult, nobody can downsize to become 75% of a person!

Don't estate agents always say what the council tax is for a property in the particulars? What on earth is the point of that if there's every chance that the property will be revalued after you've bought it and may well increase?

At least when they give you the dimensions of the rooms, you don't suddenly lose two feet off each one once the house is yours!

I suppose the councils' rationale behind increasing the band when an annexe is built is that these are very often used for an elderly family member to move into. They probably see it that the new occupant previously paid CT for their former home, so it's not fair for them to now avoid having to pay CT anymore on a technicality, just because they've moved home.

By contrast, if you'd extended the house with an extra room for a home office/cinema/extra bathroom or whatever, you haven't replaced another person's entire residence.

People quoting Pay per person eg Poll tax- was an utter nightmare to administer- it was my job and bloody thankless. People move around. A Lot by all accounts. Council tax- at the end of the day someone legally owns a property and in the absence of any other info you can charge the legal owner. I agree houses with 6/7 residents use more services and should pay more but the Poll Tax was an utter disaster. Never bring it back. It's unworkable. F knows what the answer is I really don't know. Adult social services is about to collapse though- people are living lives that are too long and inconveniently expensive. I'm very pissed off with lots of thing right now.

I barely put anything in my bin or recycling. They only need emptying every 6 weeks but they come every week even though there's nothing in them half the time.

I think we should pay per collection. If you create a load of waste - pay for it.

Sounds like the UK needs some serious tax reform.

I LOATHE council tax. We’ve moved house recently and gone from Band A to Band C and our bins are only taken alternate weeks?! We got recycling and waste taken every week in Band A but now in Band C, it alternates. We’ve been living with boxes in the hallway for weeks bc it takes so long to break them down and wait for our “turn” at recycling. Paying much more for less services. It’s a joke.

It needs completely rethinking. They need to manage our taxes better and take it out of that, we pay enough imho. I have a “decent” job and can barely afford to do anything.

If we didn’t have to pay council tax every month, we’d be able to afford to put the heating on without panicking and stressing about the bill. We’d be able to stock the fridge and freezer with more.

It just continues to go up, too. I’m really worried where it’s going to end up. It’s already close to £200 a month in Band C - I don’t know how they expect people to cope. DP and I both work full time and every month is a battlefield to get by.

That's a made up number, complete and total bollocks

Why come on here and lie?

You don’t mention equipment services for people coming out of hospital, bins, waste recycling, Road maintenance, carers, care home fees, services for people with learning disabilities, schools and so much more

No, but my point was that moving would not really save me money anyway.

I am not saying that you necessarily want to move. I am just talking about the logic of a single person paying 75%.
It was a very long time ago, but as a single person, I lived in a bed sit. It would not have accommodated 2 people.

You don't use less services because you are poor. If anything you use more.

Educating the nation should be a national matter as having educated productive individuals is national asset. Councils shouldn’t be responsible for funding education or looking after SEND children nor should it be a post code lottery for funding these children and mainstream schools.

oh our waste bin has just shrunk in size thanks to our council who hasn’t consulted anyone but decided to half the size of our bin and increase council tax. Slow clap…, they had 3 weekly collection proposal at one point - the cheekiness of it all.

Your situation is exceptional, you must realise this. There will never be a tax rule that suits everyone, but it needs to be fair in majority if cases.

A couple in a one bed place can split the CT 50/50. I could live in a one bed place that is the same band and have to pay 75% of CT.
I am in a Band B property. Where I live, if I moved to a Band A, I would be saving about £200 per year. Hardly worth it for all the upheaval.
Also, there are places smaller than mine that are higher bands. It makes no sense at times.

More people in the house doesn't always equate to more use of services.

If my husband lived alone with our children he'd use disposable nappies, cook ready meals, not garden, all producing more rubbish. He'd have to drive more because he wouldn't have the time to walk with the children.

In addition, as a SAHM I home educate my children (saving the cost of school places), and provide free care for some family and friends (saving the council care costs). We go litter picking, again, saving the council money.

In the past my voluntary work has included free EAL lessons and integration supportfor refugees, and mentoring and supporting former gang members in leading new lives which benefit society. Again, saving the council money in the long term.

We're one of only a couple of countries in the world where spouses can't be jointly taxed. This and the way child benefit is means tested make it more expensive to be a SAHM. Poll tax rather than council tax would add even more to this.

And let's remember that we have a housing crisis which would be beloved helped by more house-sharing and intergenerational living, and made worse by more single or small households. Poll tax would be a nudge in the wrong direction!

But if you are a single person, then you don’t need a house the same size as a couple or family. It is up to you. If you don’t want to pay the council tax, you could move into a smaller house.

The wait for an appeal to be recitified is over a year and climbing.

The tax is too high. The streets are overgrown with weeds, the local services are rubbish because there are too many houses and not enough infrastructure to support. Like schools. And building more Houses.

The government manage and take the local business rates this is why the lovely little independent shops in our town have mostly all shut down. Not because no one goes in, but because the business rates are so high, they can't break even or make a profit to justify the shop.

My parents spoke of the poll tax riots. At least the government listened FINALLY. Yes, looking at you, Rachel.

No, I meant a poll tax. There are two of us we should pay for that. Not the value of a property I don't own.