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

[Usererror1999]

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.

[quote Usererror1999]@Pinkyantelope it’s the fact that lots of people who
Have more money than I do are still getting the rebate.[/quote]
It must be hard for you being capital rich!

[quote Usererror1999]@Pinkyantelope it’s the fact that lots of people who
Have more money than I do are still getting the rebate.[/quote]
It has been known since the days of Jesus that council tax is not a fair tax.

And anyway, I wouldn’t use logical fallacy such as “but I’m not a heavy user of council tax services”. It doesn’t work that way.

Council tax only funds a portion of local authorities expenditure. Central government also provide monies direct to LAs. And you never know, you may need adult social care when you’re older.

It would be better for local authorities to be funded out of general taxation then people can get away from the nonsensical notion that “their” council tax funds everything that a LA does.

Instead of grumbling that your neighbours are getting a better deal, maybe ask yourself why 99% of us are getting a shit deal and the 1% are rolling in it.

We are suffering from the consequences of decisions made over the last few decades. Short term decisions made with no real sensible evidence under pinning them. (Privatisation. There is no evidence that the private sector is better at running services for the greater public good).

Lol you really pushed it with those rates - thats hilarious.

2.8% with a 20% deposit and a 15 year mortgage.

Unheard of lol! Mortgage rates are nearer 1% for a 5 yr fix atm.

And if you choose to pay off a whole mortgage in less than 15 yrs then thats up to you but you cant then complain about £150 being make or break in your life.

I would go as far as to say you should spend an additional £150 on getting a financial advisor. Your paying way over odds unnecessarily.

@Phrowzunn

I get you OP, we are a single-income household and have saved really hard to get our new house which the council decided (after we bought it!) to re-band at E so we will not get the rebate even though it would make a big difference to us. We also don’t get child benefit because of my DH’s wage. Now all of that is fine EXCEPT people I know who have two separate incomes that add up to more than our household income do still get child benefit, plus both tax free personal allowances, plus no higher rate income tax, plus the rebate because of the specific house they live in and it just feels really unfair. It should be based on joint household income in my opinion. My DH pays a ridiculous amount of tax but we get absolutely nothing back at all, nothing, because we chose to have one parent stay at home. Lots of people are much better off than us but get all this extra help that DH’s tax is paying for! It really doesn’t seem fair, but you can’t talk to anyone about it because they just tell you that if you’re not struggling to afford food every week you have no right to feel slightly peeved at the system.

You said it right in your post, all this because you chose to have a parent stay at home. You do realise right this is a massive privilege and you have to make financial sacrifices for it? Why don't you go back to work if relying on a single income is too much? Your husband could cut his hours to share childcare as well and then you'd likely be able to have all these wonderful things you speak of like child benefit, two tax free personal allowances, and no higher rate income tax while on two incomes. What's stopping you?

OP that does sound really unfair, I imagined your house must be worth 5 or 600,000 to be in band E and thought you were being a bit grabby. We're band C and ours was valued at £325,000 a couple of years ago so it's crazy that you are band E and yours is £200,000 and you'll miss out.

There are lots of poorly thought through schemes, we don't get child benefit because OH earns too much but I earn very little, if we both earned just less than OH but had a much higher combined total we'd still get it. Doesn't make sense at all.

If you are in a Band E house you have a house that is worth a lot. I really don't feel any sympathy that you won't get a rebate

My home is band E.

I pay £2k+ per year. I’m on a low income.

I don’t own my home. Many people don’t own a property.

Confused as to why this conversation seems centred around property ownership.

Everyone pays council tax not just homeowners.

I'm currently living in a Band E 3 bed new build semi. Previous house 4 bed 30s semi with big extensions was bumped up to a C when we bought it - it's twice the size of our current house. Main thing is that newer houses are generally higher bands than older houses which will hit younger people harder - because help to buy pushed them into having new builds as the only choice in budget

Oh yeah and Westminster has the lowest council tax in the country I seem to recall - crazy.

@cuno - don't you think though that one parent being able to stay at home and raise their kids shouldn't be a huge privilege? It should be perfectly normal and possible if that is what they want? That the government shouldn't make everything feel designed to push women into work rather than be at home with their kids. Also the idea that people can just tell their boss that their wife has a job now so they're going to cut their hours is ludicrous.

I agree it’s nonsense. DH and I both earn 6 figure salaries and because we live in a D, we will get it.

My aunt rents a G, is on a very low income but needs the space, and she won’t get it.

I genuinely think it’s unfair.

@Gowithme thank you so much, that’s exactly how I feel, like you are specifically penalised for having a SAHP
@cuno I honestly do understand how privileged I am and wouldn’t and don’t for a second begrudge taxes paying for people who need it but it’s just a bit of a hard pill to swallow to know that we are having to make sacrifices whilst paying out money to give it to people who have more than we do..? That honestly wouldn’t annoy you?

YANBU in my opinion. This should have been based on income rather than how much your house is worth. It is, after people's income from either wages and or benefits or pensions that is used to pay energy bills. ( unless of course you sell your house and live off the equity which means the hassle of moving etc)

Then there are those who do not pay £150 council tax a year because their income is extremely low eg universal credit, ESA JSA and therefore miss out on any extra help apart from the £200 that has to be paid back in the future. Some of these people will be disabled, on sick leave, and those caring for poorly relatives. They will need to find the extra money for energy bills from their benefit, which can be as low as 70 odd quid a week.

@Gowithme

Oh yeah and Westminster has the lowest council tax in the country I seem to recall - crazy.

@cuno - don't you think though that one parent being able to stay at home and raise their kids shouldn't be a huge privilege? It should be perfectly normal and possible if that is what they want? That the government shouldn't make everything feel designed to push women into work rather than be at home with their kids. Also the idea that people can just tell their boss that their wife has a job now so they're going to cut their hours is ludicrous.

My post isn't about what should and shouldn't be a huge privilege, it just is a huge privilege this day and age in the west. Most households both parents have to go to work, they can't afford to have one parent at home, it's just how it is. So of course they are privileged that they can afford that choice. And lots of women work part time to accommodate childcare, I don't see the issue in sharing the responsibility with the husband? I just don't understand choosing to be a SAHM then complaining you don't see certain benefits that two working parents get who often have to spend a fortune on childcare anyway.

Yes I am, my 2 bed flat is a band F! It's nothing huge or spectacular and I challenged it when I first moved in. I think we got screwed when they were first built and they banded them based on the market value at that time rather than back dating it to align with other properties. Apparently it was based on similar properties in the area but at that time there weren't any!

[quote Phrowzunn]@Gowithme thank you so much, that’s exactly how I feel, like you are specifically penalised for having a SAHP
@cuno I honestly do understand how privileged I am and wouldn’t and don’t for a second begrudge taxes paying for people who need it but it’s just a bit of a hard pill to swallow to know that we are having to make sacrifices whilst paying out money to give it to people who have more than we do..? That honestly wouldn’t annoy you?[/quote]
But presumably you save a lot of money by not having to pay for childcare.

@Hshuznw There's nothing stopping you giving your payment to your aunt.

Every bit of financial support the government has offered has been poorly thought out. Blunt tools that have been open to massive abuse, at the same time as leaving those least able with the least help. But we can help each other. If you don't need the additional support, food banks need help more than ever, any donation would be gratefully received.

@ChoiceMummy only the very poorest get a significant council tax discount. As soon as you earn more than £87 a week, you pay some council tax.
I helped a relative who was off long term sick apply for a council tax discount. They barely had enough money to eat, and they got a monthly discount of £2.60. The process took so long I would have been better off just giving my relative that amount myself.
Until they are in it, a lot of people do not realise how low benefits are. Especially if you do not have dependent children.

@CorrBlimeyGG We plan to and we will. In fact we support her financially quite a lot, which is the only reason she can afford to stay in a G.

Please don’t make assumptions.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

The idea is that everybody who is of average means (in a Band D house) or below will get it, and those better off than that won't need it as much.

We all know that it's a very crude way of blanket-assessing it, and can be extremely unfair - like with so many government schemes - but that's the way they've chosen.

If they had total confidence that your CT band was directly linked with how well-off you are, they could/would have given a sliding scale of rebate e.g. £120 for band D, £140 for band C, £160 for band B and £180 for band A; but this would just shine even more of a light on how unfair it is to many people. basing it on such an arbitrary system, with a huge amount of variables.

It will probably mean that most of the most desperately poor WILL get it, as not many of them will live in band E and above homes, but you're right that it is a massively flawed broad-brush approach, which will exclude a lot of people who will also be really struggling financially.

Unfortunately not all of the desperately poor will get it. Those on basic UC of 70 something a week don't always pay as much as 150 a year council tax, so will have less than 150 extra to help.towards energy bills. Some possibly pay no council tax so will not have any extra at all.

This government doesn't care about these people though, and I doubt many vote tory.

@Usererror1999

It just seems irrational that only bands A-D are getting this rebate. Someone could earn £100k and live in a band D home, whereas someone else could earn £20k and live in a band E home

I agree. My parents live in council housing so don't have any equity they can release or options to move or downsize but because they live in Islington in London in a crumbling upper floor of a terraced house that is presumably worth a lot (not theirs though!), they are in band E

@randomsabreuse

I'm currently living in a Band E 3 bed new build semi. Previous house 4 bed 30s semi with big extensions was bumped up to a C when we bought it - it's twice the size of our current house. Main thing is that newer houses are generally higher bands than older houses which will hit younger people harder - because help to buy pushed them into having new builds as the only choice in budget

In my area, newbuild townhouses are cheaper and are affected by higher council tax bands. But all the 3 and 4 bedroom new houses are more expensive to buy than old fifties and sixties properties. It would cost much more to buy a similar new property than my old property would cost.

@cuno no of course we don’t pay for childcare but lots of households who have two working parents don’t pay for childcare either, by having working hours split between both parents (if they’re extremely lucky to be able to make that work) or using family as free childcare. For clarity, I’m not complaining about being a SAHM, I love it and wouldn’t give up this time with my children for any amount of money, but more feeling frustrated that this rebate is yet one more thing on a long list of things we are not entitled to, most of which seem to be set up to specifically penalise families with a SAHP.

No one is penalising SAHPs. They are penalising well off people.

And don't worry, you will pay less of the NI increase proportionately than poorer people.

What is a “higher user of council tax”?

Look at your bill most of it is going to county (if shire), police and fire. If I had to pay £10 week to a private company to get my rubbish collected that would be £520 per annum. I also get a lot more from my council.

@Monopolyiscrap

No one is penalising SAHPs. They are penalising well off people.

No they aren’t penalising well off people.

I am in a band E property. I am far from well off.