To be scared about how we will cope with more tax rises - council tax

[partytimed]

i really loathe this government. Usually with politics I feel like whoever is in charge I don’t notice much of a direct impact on my day to day life. Yes I’m aware of slow erosions in public services and I was no fan at all of the tories, I voted for this government im ashamed to say, and they lied and lied about their plans. I am so much worse off and if they double council tax bands virtually all of our disposable income is going to be gone. It feels like theft. I don’t trust them to spend the money I make properly it all feels corrupt and it’s just so depressing and upsetting.

For the first time in my life I’m worried about the budget, and I am ancient. So if we all have to sell our houses because we can’t afford the council tax who’s going to buy them? They’ll be worth far less for a start.

The sheer incompetence of this government is breathtaking.

It’s beginning to feel like communism - workers money being taken to be given to welfare claimants. Is the plan we all have the same a flat rate per month?

I wonder how many people complaining about sudden council tax rises were the ones gleeful about VAT being put on private school fees? The left wing are often fine about people "not like them" being taxed but when its closer to home suddenly its wrong.

Im saying this from the point of view of being on a low income but one of my DC goes to a private performing arts school on a scholarship because that's the only way they can access training and suddenly the scholarships are being cut and the amount the government assessed that we could afford to pay has increased by 20% with no increase (more like decrease) in our income.

To be fair, it should only double where there is already a significant unfairness - rates are so different around the country. Upping SE rates to meet those elsewhere in the country makes sense. So I suspect it’ll be couched like this - ending the unfairness with a levy for G and H bands in some regions.

What they could also do to raise money would be to re-value properties if they have extensions built. There are several houses in my road with a much larger floor area on a lower council tax band. I believe properties are re-valued when a next owner moves in, not when the owner who had the extension built.

Did you actually read the article you've presumably got this info from? A. It's speculation from the IFS which is a Tory thinktank. B. It would be the top bands of council tax which the Chancellor has actually not said she would double but which you've read the headline about in a Sun article.

Honestly the amount of fearmongering bollocks about taxes that's floating about on the internet at the moment is bloody ridiculous, but we have to pay for things somehow. Tory austerity and ineptitude broke us. I don't know how people were expecting to pay for that. However, doubling everyone's council tax is NOT on the cards.

Just had a google within 5 miles of where I live… the discrepancy in banding is insane. A £650k - 7 bedroomed semi is a band D yet a 3 bedroom semi at £400k is a band F. It makes zero sense!

It’s a worry for everyone . I don’t thimk
this awful government will stop until we’re all bankrupt but then part of me is defiant in that they can’t havd what people haven’t got and you
don’t go to jail for debt and even if you did there aren’t enough spaces . Never before have I heard so many of my friends saying they’re going to spend everything they’ve got , savings , pensions and they’ll just rely on the state because there is no incentive tk work , save and do the right thing anymore . All this government are doing is tsking
from people and there’s absolutely no coherent plan for growth .

This

Why should a house worth £800K attract the same council tax as a mansion worth £200 million?

It would be fairer to re-value all band G properties and introduce additional bands.

Council tax would remain the same for band G homes that are valued under £1Million. The rest - H to L, would see increases according to their valuation.

Who agrees with me?

Where on earth do people think money would come from for improved public services? If you want those then you need to expect to be poorer. We have an aging population that is costing a fortune to keep, thats the reality

There's a huge amount of government waste going on from everything to procurement practices, donations to places like Singapore - I know - for greenwashing that Singapore can easily afford themselves. I realise it's going to be a matter of opinion. But there is a huge amount of money wasted. It could be tackled from there.

Also, improving services often isn't about money. Look at the amount of money that's been given to the NHS.

But those are totally different taxes, so it makes sense for people to have different views. I think you could reasonably argue that the council tax rise is more acceptable than the VAT on private education (ie education is a right and shouldn’t be disrupted halfway through, but services need to be funded somehow so CT will need to rise), and I don’t think that being anti VAT on private school would then make you hypocritical to be fine with a CT rise.
To be clear, I think you can also argue coherently that the opposite is true and that the CT rise is far worse, or that neither/both taxes are ok.

I don’t have a child at private school, and I’m not in one of the council tax band being discussed so neither will affect me and I don’t think that my opinion on one is related to the other.

How would that help other areas though? They wouldn’t get any more money so it would just be “I have to pay more so you should too” - unless you’re proposing a total restructure where council tax is pooled and divided out?

We will be completely fucked if our council tax doubles. We don’t have the extra money and have no way to get more. We cannot cut back on anything else, otherwise they will be no point in living as every penny is spoken for. They can put me in jail for non payment, probably would have a better lifestyle there.

IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Stop this nonsense and read some beautiful poetry. Go to an art gallery and support your local library.

Anyone with long memories will be well aware about how Labour perform, so it comes as no surprise that they are shit, driving us into the ground, taking all and everything, so they can carry on with net zero and throwing money at the NHS and benefits

Im band G. Modern-ishvhouse on an estate. South East. Single parent. Close to retirement. The cost to sell and downsize wasnt worth it after divorce. So I stayed. Feel very betrayed.

Yes this. Eg my neighbours. I get no rebate from inconvenience due to their money grabbing build. And they dont pay no extra cost.

Do you want to.pay for the boat people? I do, far beyond the actual cost as the supposed young people take priority over anyone else in the county. Ie SEN children, elderly needing social care, rural lack of jobs, lack of transport etc. So if you want my south east property price and the associated benefit then you surely can understand you take all of the other "benefits". How to tell me that you dont have a clue, without you needing to tell us all your ignorance. Labour really are a city based govt. And no i will never vote reform no matter how bad it gets.

It seems inconsistent. I just checked our road which as lots of different types of houses and there are huge variations. A £3m house is a band E, same as small cottage. Then there are two band H homes but they’re not the biggest, and neighbours in identical houses are a mix of F and G!!

i suspect if they do this there will be a lot of requests for revaluation… which could go very wrong!

How do you know this though, anymore than people think that it is going to happen, it could happen or it may not. They are surely going to do some of the many things floated and this wouldn't require much extra administration.

I agree with the poster upthread about houses being revalued when extensions are done, house next-door is Band B with a large double floor extension, it should be at least band D

So you live in a very big house op? Have you considered... Moving? Council tax desperately needs reform, have you ever looked into it? People in Westminster pay less than people in Yorkshire, for example. The bands are all wrong and outdated.

That’s total bollocks. I live in SE and already pay £4k a year in Council tax. I don’t live in a mansion.

Slight derail but envious of those of you with your water bills. I’m with Severn Trent and we pay around £800 a year! Also agree with other posters that council tax is outdated. My house is C band but as I live in a deprived area (we have had a routine 5% added now for a decade), we pay £180 a month.