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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

286 replies

Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:06

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.

OP posts:
Original poster
Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:29

@NeesAndToes I was expecting another arguing post from you!!! I’m now disappointed 😂

OP posts:
LadyCatStark · 10/02/2022 22:30

We’re band E too. We always miss out on bloody everything. It’s all very well saying we can “afford it” but at some point it gets to the point when it’s not worth it!

Soundwave · 10/02/2022 22:30

@Usererror1999

What I mean is we are not using any more council services than the average household
It's a universally understood and accepted principle that the people who use government funded services most are the people who pay least into them.

Start sending yourself off to school, ring the bizzies and the fire brigade out a couple of times a year and I'm sure you'll get your monies worth eventually.

Original poster
Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:30

But you’re probably right that it’s to save on admin

OP posts:
DorothyZbornakIsAQueen · 10/02/2022 22:32

People in higher council tax bands just round the corner from where we live, do get more council services.

They have an extra 'food' bin collection every week. So it's taken for composting or whatever.

Is there no extra service like that you get from your council tax?

Id pay £150 a year for that service, but I can't.

RJnomore1 · 10/02/2022 22:32

It’s really unfair across the country too. I’m my part of Scotland a band D house is potentially worth about £180- 200k in a good area, 3 bed semi or terrace. How much would a band D be worth in London or even edinburgh now? I don’t know the answer btw just curious…

TokyoSushi · 10/02/2022 22:33

We're band E, we could really do with the £150 but no luck.

My parents have lots of money, but are band D as they've lived in the same house for 40+ years, they get it!

I can see the theory behind it, but it doesn't mean the money goes to those who could do with it more!

tootyfruitypickle · 10/02/2022 22:33

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

Original poster
Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:34

@DorothyZbornakIsAQueen nope. Nothing like that. We don’t get extra services because we pay more council tax than Jenny next door who’s house is a band D

OP posts:
BurntO · 10/02/2022 22:35

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.

Original poster
Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:38

DH and I work full time too... but £55k actually works out at £27.5 k each which is below
Average salary

OP posts:
cuno · 10/02/2022 22:38

I don't think people sitting in million pound houses should be getting £150 rebate for their energy bills, so a line has to be drawn somewhere and unfortunately for you Band E is where the line is drawn. However, council bands can be nonsensical as they are based on 1991 valuations which do not reflect the current value and the massive skyrocketing house prices in some areas. And new builds can be in super high bands but no better or bigger than older houses in much lower bands. I think the system used for calculating council tax needs a massive upheaval really.

TheHateIsNotGood · 10/02/2022 22:38

I have heard lots of Tories are complaining that this policy is a bit too 'socialist' for their liking. You can't win for losing.

With every 'redistribution' policy there are winners and losers, this time you're a loser OP and I'd just take it on the chin and count your blessings (agnostically) and put things into perspective.

£150 off an annual Council Tax Bill does make a positive difference to me, it's one of the largest monthly bills I have (Band B).

TheMoth · 10/02/2022 22:39

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?

cuno · 10/02/2022 22:41

@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?

I'm in England and I think it varies by council, but in my council we have to pay for garden waste.
Original poster
Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:42

@cuno I wish we were in an £1m house!

OP posts:
cuno · 10/02/2022 22:45

[quote Usererror1999]@cuno I wish we were in an £1m house![/quote]
I didn't say that you live in a million pound house!

ENoeuf · 10/02/2022 22:45

Council tax banding needs to be revisited every five years or something. We are band E and the band D houses next door are bigger and better thanks to extensions and improvements.

tootyfruitypickle · 10/02/2022 22:46

I do think that the money should have gone to lower earners . I earn what you do and am a lone parent. I certainly struggle every month to balance the budget, but I also work with clients who are on the breadline and desperate - this govt just has no idea as shown by giving middle earners a rebate .

Original poster
Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:47

@cuno yeah, but I still wish I lived in one

OP posts:
Feelingoktoday · 10/02/2022 22:47

Collecting garden waste is not a statutory service so therefore councils can choose to charge. My council charges. This income goes into the general pot to be spent funding homelessness, street cleansing etc.

cuno · 10/02/2022 22:49

[quote Usererror1999]@cuno yeah, but I still wish I lived in one[/quote]
If that's your main takeaway from what I wrote, then you've clearly missed my point.

Monopolyiscrap · 10/02/2022 22:52

@lightsoutminty

Sooooo.. what happens when all of the band Es decide to downsize? It's a ridiculous system that squeezes the middle and people will vote with their options. Before anyone has a go at me for being a mad Tory or totally bougie - I'm neither. But I do have the option to leave the country, even as an extreme option, which by the way no longer feels extreme as an immigrant. And then we have brain drain. Good luck sustaining an economy.
Don't be ridiculous. No one is going to move from a house at these prices because you aren't getting a one-off £150 rebate.
labyrinthlaziness · 10/02/2022 22:53

I don't think this scheme is good but if you are a Tory voter, it is tough shit - the Tories are unfair bastards, this time you are on the wrong end of it.

The other scheme is shite too, borrow now and pay it back later. Thanks so much Rishi.

houselikeashed · 10/02/2022 22:53

A bit along the same lines as only certain self employed people got any covid financial help. meh.