To be pissed off we won’t get the £150 rebate

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I feel like the rebate is giving with one hand and taking with the other. But now I also realise that as we are in band E: we aren’t getting the rebate at all! So it’s just “take” from us. We already pay a higher amount of council tax and we aren’t high users of council services

We aren’t rich: but we do have a fairly decent house that we make other sacrifices to afford. We work hard and pay into a pension and pay off our mortgage in the hope that we’re fairly self sufficient in old age. This just feels like a bit of a slap in the face.

We won’t get it either as we’re an E. It’s really unfair and I don’t think it’s right that those in higher bands have to sub others.

No different from other tax, the more you buy the more you pay.

If you have more medical treatment on NHS should I complain it’s unfair as I’ve had to sub you?

@TheMoth

Nothing said in Wales about a rebate. But our ct is going up 4%.

We moved into a bigger house, because our childcare bills have finally gone down. But we're going to be worse off than before, due to everything else. And no pay increase this year at all.

Do people in England pay extra for garden waste?

We have to pay for garden waste here in Powys mid wales

@rattlehum

Did you know that the council tax on a band D house in Westminster is about £800pa but a Band D in eg. Liverpool is over £2000pa? Doesn't help you OP but just wanted to point out how unfair council tax is in general

Isn’t that because Westminster is almost exclusively commercial properties and there’s very little demand for services?

It's not that only some people will get it, it's that there is no windfall tax on those companies who are benefiting from high energy prices or exorbitant charges during the pandemic, that I object to.

Yep we are the same, council tax E yet both parents are living in bigger houses (different area of the country) and they are banded D

"Isn’t that because Westminster is almost exclusively commercial properties and there’s very little demand for services?"

No, it's because tories have cut council funding disproportionately across the U.K., meaning lots of councils - particularly those with high social care bills - have had to tax their citizens more and more. Obviously somewhere like Westminster is a bit at the extreme end because there are fewer residential houses, much higher than average wealth in those houses, and much lower than average social care costs across the borough, but the point still stands that the way people pay council tax in this country is grossly unfair.

We're in a band E. we're in our 30s. 2 young kids. Pushed our borrowing limit to the max with future proofing in mind. We're already at the limit and have cut spending down as much as poss. We could really do with the £150 more than we could have in our old band C property earning the same amount. Only thing that council tax bands represent for most people is amount of borrowing through a mortgage.

@tootyfruitypickle

I think the point is there is no perfect way and this way covers most of the low and middle earners in a simple way to administer

Is it earnings or is it amount of borrowing?

@BurntO

55k is well off to me… and me and my partner both work full time. The rebate is a drop in the ocean, can’t see why people are getting their knickers in a twist over it.

I think it's the implication that people living in band E properties aren't included in the "struggling" band. In my town in the south east band E properties are only slightly above an average house price. We're very much in the middle

Look, someone has to pay - and it makes sense for those with the most assets to bear a greater burden. Whining about poverty when you're sitting on £750k plus is unbearable privilege.

The asset-rich elderly are already getting the best deal of anyone in society with years of above-inflation pension rises, universal winter fuel allowance/travel passes.

I'd like to see some cash redirected to the poorest 20% of society, especially children growing up in poverty.

@rattlehum

"Isn’t that because Westminster is almost exclusively commercial properties and there’s very little demand for services?"

No, it's because tories have cut council funding disproportionately across the U.K., meaning lots of councils - particularly those with high social care bills - have had to tax their citizens more and more. Obviously somewhere like Westminster is a bit at the extreme end because there are fewer residential houses, much higher than average wealth in those houses, and much lower than average social care costs across the borough, but the point still stands that the way people pay council tax in this country is grossly unfair.

Isn’t that what I said? 🤔

This is great news for us as we are band B.

This is great news for us as we are band B.

not really though as insulating everyones home for free in bands a b and c would have seen a reduction in bills of an average of £300 per year each and every year and of course that £300 would increase in value as utilities increase

one is a one of payment and the other would stand the test of time

when you have companies like shell making £12billion in profit its unacceptable to give small change to the lowest paid

@Crimesean

Look, someone has to pay - and it makes sense for those with the most assets to bear a greater burden. Whining about poverty when you're sitting on £750k plus is unbearable privilege.

The asset-rich elderly are already getting the best deal of anyone in society with years of above-inflation pension rises, universal winter fuel allowance/travel passes.

I'd like to see some cash redirected to the poorest 20% of society, especially children growing up in poverty.

£750k?! Try £420k with a hefty mortgage. My well off parents in their lovely band D flat (owned outright), recent 8% pension increase and healthy bank balance after downsizing get their £150 while we don't.

I understand someone has to pay it, and I'd far rather people in greater need than me got it than no-one at all, but it's galling that many who are well off will receive it

@KeepYaHeadUp
Couldn’t agree with you more, we are in the same boat.
And for reference our ‘Band E’ house cost less than £250k last year so those going on about oh you have to be loaded to be in Band E are talking absolute nonsense. We also pay a little under £1k a month for our mortgage and that’s over 30 years so the people questioning the OP’s finances are out of line as well. Not everyone has a massive deposit and a tiny mortgage.

@Crimesean

Look, someone has to pay - and it makes sense for those with the most assets to bear a greater burden. Whining about poverty when you're sitting on £750k plus is unbearable privilege.

The asset-rich elderly are already getting the best deal of anyone in society with years of above-inflation pension rises, universal winter fuel allowance/travel passes.

I'd like to see some cash redirected to the poorest 20% of society, especially children growing up in poverty.

So what about tenants in band E properties?

I won't get the £150, but two of my DC will and I would rather they got it than me as they have less money than me. I suppose they can't please everyone. I think I might get it for one of my btl though as it is empty having major work done so no tenants ATM and I am paying CT on the property in band B.

We're in a rented house. It's band E and would be one of the cheaper rents in our area for a 3 bed - plenty of similar sized properties going for a rent of over 1100 month (to be fair area has gone crazy). But it's relatively new (2000ish) so in a higher band than larger older houses, especially those that have been extended but not sold - only sale triggers rebanding - and even that tends to go up one or 2. Most ex council houses seem to sit in band A or B, get upgraded to a C when heavily extended and offer far more space than the late 90s/2000s estate houses which seem to start at an E council tax band. The ex council houses also don't seem to come up for sale/rent very often - most of the recent sales have fairly obviously been on moving to a nursing home or death of previous occupant rather than people "upgrading" to a new build (why would you given room sizes and price differential) and the ex council houses have sold for well over the asking price in less than a week (much Rightmove and Zoopla stalking, we're renting while buying a house which is deservedly above band E).

Buying a relatively new house isn't something that is a "choice" as there is a lot more affordable stock that is more recent as well as recent incentives on new builds...

I suspect that a good number of the flats affected by the cladding issues are Band E or above despite having no current monetary value and being unsaleable/unmortgageable at the moment...

All this fuss it is less than £3 per week. A cup of coffee.

Yanbu. We have a government who don't care about anyone who works hard and pays higher taxes. They should be cutting services if the current ridiculous taxes don't cover them.

It shows how messed up everything is when the solution offered by some is to sell your home.

Erm no. How about the government who have wasted and given away billions to their cronies, do something fair an equitable to protect people from the tripling of energy bills, relentless council tax increases, NI increases etc etc.

When people buy a house, most factor in the cost of living increase spread over a period of time. Not all at once in the space of a few months, with salaries that aren’t keeping pace with inflation.

Sell your home indeed. What a load of wang.

@Crimesean

Look, someone has to pay - and it makes sense for those with the most assets to bear a greater burden. Whining about poverty when you're sitting on £750k plus is unbearable privilege.

The asset-rich elderly are already getting the best deal of anyone in society with years of above-inflation pension rises, universal winter fuel allowance/travel passes.

I'd like to see some cash redirected to the poorest 20% of society, especially children growing up in poverty.

More ageist crap. Like it fell in our laps.

recent 8% pension increase

Christ,I wish mine had gone up 8%. I was obviously working in the wrong industry.

Every so often, a post like this crops up.

Points out how some people are never grateful for the good fortune afforded to them. Oh, and before anyone feels the need to point out how hard they worked for it, having the opportunity of a decent wage and property also falls under the heading of good fortune. Plenty of people work hard and have little to show for it.

This thread makes some middle class people look like greedy entitled gits. Me me me, I deserve, not some, but ALL.

I swear if there were a table smeared with crap and broken glass with a half penny piece sitting in the middle, a middle class person of this ilk standing near it with their hands tied behind their back would be frantically licking the coin toward themselves if they saw a perceived poor person coming. All despite the half penny ceasing to be legal tender in December 1984. It might have collectors value, you never know.

Greed from folk with plenty. It is sickening.

More ageist crap. Like it fell in our lap

If the post war government took the same line about debt that our currently inexperienced government are, then you wouldn’t have benefitted as you did.