Council Tax- how much is yours

[OnlyFoolsnMothers]

I’ve read that council tax outside of London can be more expensive than inside, so I’m being nosy having just got my new bill.

I’ll start:
London, 3 bed terrace £1691.52 (or £169 over 10
Months)

Bloody extortionate imo!

There's so much that's wrong with it. 1991 values are irrelevant : for example 2 bedroom flats built in the last twenty years are band c here, whereas older 2 bedroom houses are band b. It might have been the case 20 years ago that people would pay more for an open plan new build than for a period house but they certainly wouldn't now. Also tenants (ie 34% of householders) have to pay based on the notional value of an asset (which is often inaccurate as values have changed a lot in 30 years) that they don't own. Plus it varies widely according to factors which the majority of people liable for it have no control over whatsoever. That a taxation system has so many anomalies built into it is pretty bad.

And as yet it's the only individual non business tax that's gone up in response to meet the covid bill. Despite it being regressive and full of irregularities.

London, 2 bed terrace, just over £2k per year

Hackney, band G, three bed flat, £2,670 a year.

Cornwall. Band A. £1337

South West - 5 bed detached - £3086 annually / £309 monthly

North Somerset small 3 bed detached £2300 per annum.

1,875.00, will increase by £200 a yr, due to the costs of covid, once housing homeless in hotels.

Reading these has made me realise how lucky I am, I pay what I feel is a reasonable amount of council tax and get value for money while I paid twice what I pay now in Hertfordshire-in a naice area and the value for money was non-existent.

North Essex, 2 bed semi, £1513 annually.

I’ve found this eye opening/ I don’t really need to understand what band everyone is in, there’s so many varying factors I was just keen to know how much comes out of everyone’s pocket every month- it’s staggering!

I've found it interesting too - I knew ours was more when we moved out of London which seemed wierd as the house was 2/3rds the price of our London one and its supposed to be based on national house values in 1991. It was odd as we went up a council tax band despite a much cheaper house but I guess house prices must have risen a lot faster in London than where we are. Also interesting to see over half of it goes on social care which probably explains the difference as far more elderly here than in London.

It says in this report its cheaper in London,

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905425/Council_tax_levels_set_by_local_authorities_in_England_2020-21.pdf

It was odd as we went up a council tax band despite a much cheaper house but I guess house prices must have risen a lot faster in London than where we are

Yes, prices have risen massively more in London in the last 25 years. I've seen people talk about buying properties in London for £60k that are now worth half a million plus. Whereas the house we bought in Leeds for £32k in the mid nineties is now worth around £120k.

In a lot of places prices are around the same as the pre 2007 crash, as in they've hardly increased in the last 15 years.

17:32Silkies

I've found it interesting too - I knew ours was more when we moved out of London which seemed wierd as the house was 2/3rds the price of our London one and its supposed to be based on national house values in 1991.

Council tax band is based on the relative property values in the council area you live in. It's not a national calculation. Your new house was probably more valuable within the range of property in the new area than the old one was within the London council iyswim.

They were based on values in England in 1991 not regional ones. The change is due to the slower rate of growth in house prices here versus London.

www.confused.com/home-insurance/guides/council-tax-explained

The house I had in London rose twice as much in price as the one we bought here did over the same time period, I can see on Rightmove what it was bought for mid 1990s. You can see the averages on Nationwide calculators:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-tax-bands-change/

£72 a month 3 bed terrace in Lowestoft, that's with single prson discount applied

West yorks, 2 bed terrace £97 over 12 months

Rutland. 3 bed semi. £1700 a year. Luckily we're on band B but we've extended and renovated. If we sold I am sure it would go up a couple of bands.

Surrey, 4 bed detached, £3443.25 so about £345 a month. A massive change from living "up north!"