Aibu to ask your house price and council tax cost. (Disparity between areas)

[BorisIsACuntWaffle]

£250,000. £3263

RIP off.

So an illustration of the London effect. Our block of flats has 64 flats, each flat probably pays on average £1500 pa council tax. That is a cool £96k a year and the majority of our residents are child free people in their 20s - 60s, so little demand on adult social care or children's services.

The density of residential building means the bin colleaction for us isn't too onerous, the lorry visits twice a week to empty our four big bins (recying one day, non recycling the other day). It is also a lot more efficient timewise for the refuse collectors than having empty 64 separate small bins.

TL:DR lots of people living at high density means it is more efficient to deliver services.

£990 approximately - council tax.
94k 13 years ago.

I read something recently about more tax being taken based on property value than from wages which I think would be a fairer way to do it.

That could cause even more difficulty in recruiting to essential roles in areas of high house prices.

A teacher/nurse/police officer in the SE will get the same salary as one in the NE, because pay scales are national, but will have much higher housing costs than their NE colleague. If council tax was wholly based on property value, there would be an even bigger incentive for them to relocate to a cheaper area.

The obvious way of addressing that would be to have a housing costs supplement added to public sector salaries in high rent/house price areas, but people have been suggesting that since I started work in 1972 and it still hasn't happened.

Also, high property values are perceived as making people rich, but it actually makes them poor in the early years, when they're paying huge mortgages. When interest rates were high in the 80s, everyone with a mortgage was skint. Most of my friends were doing 2 jobs, and at one time I had 4.

It only makes you rich when you're in a position to release the capital locked up in your home. I'm past retirement age, but still working p/t. When I give that up, I will have to move away to a much cheaper area, because I only have a small occupational pension and it will barely cover the essentials. I looked into buying a flat here, but they all seem to have high service charges (all well in excess of £2k pa, which would be a big chunk of my net income) which kind of defeats the object.

I'll have to live on the capital I have left after moving and just hope I die before it runs out!

Council tax £3160
Band F
house value approx £850k ( based on the sale of others)
in Kent
We were band G and followed Martin Lewis’s advice and successfully appealed a few years ago.

Band H
£4126 - Havering but lucky me I get 25% off that 🤬

£140,000
£1467

Our house is worth around £550k £3300 a year. It’s our biggest outgoing after the mortgage.

We live in an average house in the area we live in, the town next to us has lots of £1m + properties they pay the same (different councils)

Not sure what the answer is to make it fare! With mortgage rates and utilities costs increasing it does worry me if the council tax goes up a high %.

2.5 million. Council tax £270 a month

£320k , £2304 (Band D)

C.£850k, £1,814 per year.

I think that central government gives councils money to cover it though, or most of it. It shouldn't actually cost the council more, unless your council has chosen to give more than 75% discount to the poorest households. And even 25% of council tax is hard to find if you're on basic UC of £368 a month (and probably having to pay some towards your rent, thanks to the freezing of LHA rates).

I work in welfare rights, and none of the councils in the county give 100% any more.

There are different rules for pensioners, but only those on pension credit get 100% reduction and again, councils get that back from the government.

@LakieLady "A teacher/nurse/police officer in the SE will get the same salary as one in the NE, because pay scales are national, but will have much higher housing costs than their NE colleague. If council tax was wholly based on property value, there would be an even bigger incentive for them to relocate to a cheaper area."

Taking into account our council tax costs, my area is not cheaper.

Even though on paper the cost of buying a home or renting is less than further south (in general)

The extra expense of your council tax is nothing compared to the extra expense of a mortgage in an area where property is much more expensive. Plus there are plenty of other living costs that will be less as well.

Feeling better about my council tax! I pay 2,600 on a house worth around 700k

£525kish

£2685

If you think you are in the wrong band in relation to your neighbours’ homes of a similar or larger size you can request it be changed. Not easy but it’s possible. Martin Lewis has full details on his website and has real life examples of Brits who have got thousands in refunds and have had their bands changed.

@solsticelove the size of theirs was smaller when they bought it (terrace) they have extended three times since. But the fact remains they paid the same as we did.

My issue is if it's based on price it should be comparable as that is what it's stated as being based on.

Yes you're right we could never afford to afford to buy a 500khouse
My point is that it's unfair when people like us on fixed pay bands can afford to buy "cheaper " areas we are disproportionately charged for council tax therefore making it less affordable.

Another reason that there is a recruitment and retention crisis in many job sectors.

Why should a 600k or even 1million pound house pay less council tax than us?

It shouldn't depend on area and it certainly shouldn't go on some made up price from the 1990s.

According to zoopla my house is currently worth approximately £350,000
In the real world I could maybe get £250,000 for it.
CT is currently £1461 band c

House worth ~£320k, band G, £3.56k. In Scotland though, so that includes water (£350-ish) and sewage (£400ish).

It's a huge rural council area, so probably one of the more expensive in the country to run. Council tax doesn't seem to be touching the sides, given the number of wheel-destroying potholes locally, and the fact they just closed down all the before/after school clubs and holiday clubs in the entire council area.

Edited to add: no curbside glass or garden waste collection for my £3560 either!

I've no idea the yearly cost. I'd work it out but I think there are a couple of months we don't pay. Is that right? I'm so embarrassed.

It's based on value relative to other houses in the area, so those living in the most expensive houses in an area pay more. Do you really think those of us that have live in expensive areas should pay 2 or 3 times as much council tax as those living in cheap areas?

Council tax £2092. Small terraced house in Wales bought for 160,000 but now worth around 300,000.

£485k
£2k
Nottinghamshire

I see we already have the hard of thinking saying that those who live in areas where houses are very expensive somehow have more money than others so should pay more for services.
No. We very often have LESS money here in the SE because our houses cost more.
Band D average house is average house whether it’s in Islington or Hull. Services cost what they cost.
I am a public sector worker in London. My housing costs are huge. I don’t have spare to subsidise poorer areas.