Council tax very unfair to single people

[Lettuceandtomatoes]

The council tax for my area is £1800 full whack, a single person 25% off. I pay £140 a month which is ok until I realised the three adults next door are paying £60 pounds each and a couple paying £90 each. So why this inequality aimed at single people, picking up the tab?

It drives me mad too but it’ll never change because politicians only care about “hard-working families”.

My unpopular opinion is that every property should pay the same price for the same services.

Yeah OP just take in a lodger or move into an HMO. Simple.

I emailed a Labour MP about that once. All the junk delivered to our block was about "hard working families". I felt she needed to be reminded that single people exist....I told her we aren't unicorns.

I don't mind contributing to the cost of the educating the children who will be the taxpayers of the future, or social care for the elderly and disabled, which are the two biggest areas of local government spending.

I get irrationally annoyed though, when I put out my tiny bit of non-recyclable rubbish (really tiny - it could fit in a shoebox some weeks) and the woman over the road, who has 2 kids, has at least one massive black sack every week, sometimes two. She has 2 recycling bins that are always full, as well, I sometimes don't bother to put mine out for weeks. I don't see the point of dragging it down the drive if it's less than half-full.

But my rational self knows that only a very small amount of the council tax goes on waste collection and disposal, and I give myself a theoretical slap around the head.

I think local income tax would be fairer overall. Those most able to pay would pay the most. The household along the road with 4 working adults would pay according to their combined income, not the size of their house (which, incidentally, is twice the size it was as they've extended massively, but is still the same council tax band).

It would still be a lot of money though: council tax here is nearly £2,400 for a band C property. I really don't know what they do with it all.

Houseplanter I entirely with you. An adult family of 4 would be far more likely to call emergency services etc.

I’ve spent my whole life living with other people, sometimes in a crowded houseshare to save money. I’m dreaming of living in my own - an extra bit of council tax would be a small price to pay for my own space to live in how I please.

Do you mean a one bed flat should pay the same as a 4 bed house?!

I most certainly haven’t . Your deja vu is failing you

Regarding bins - as a solo occupant, I only put my recycling out approximately once every three months. My household rubbish usually goes out every collection (once a fortnight), but equally I sometimes miss one collection and put it out once a month. I don't make nearly as much rubbish as my (couple) neighbours.

No it's not. It's also about fire service. Assuming you wouldn't want less service there than anyone else if your house was burning down.

Bring back poll tax hey?

As a single person you still get your bins collected the same number of times.

There is no completely fair system but if it was per head fewer people and the same number of houses would severely limit council income.
Affluent areas tend to have lower household occupancy in bigger houses......and people who live alone in bigger houses typically can afford to pay more tax than people who have lots of adults in smaller houses.

25% discount on your refuse collection. You enjoy all the other services provided.

This!

I get benefits and do not get council tax support. And OP might not get benefits either!

Why should a 2 bedroom house pay less than a 4 bedroom house in the same road/area/town, if the services they receive are identical

Why should a 3 bedroom semi in one area of town pay more than a 3 bedroom semi in another?

It's all unfair on many levels imo

I’ve griped about this too, so understand the sentiment.
My local town centre is a cesspit and I don’t see it improving soon, so I hope my contribution (£150 pm after discount) goes a long way to protecting our vulnerable children and adults 🤷🏽‍♀️.

Excellent point!

But if you're a solo occupant, isn't there a percentage decrease in your likelihood of setting fire to your house?

I'm really just curious. My council tax bill is actually quite low at £130 per month, but it's still steep as a solo payer.

I'm band B, 2 bed 75sqm apartment

Obviously not but there’s 3 times the risk with 4 adults

I don't understand why it was so unpopular, surely it makes sense to pay based on the number of adults in the home.

There are so many things wrong with council tax that I wouldn’t start with that one!

Basing tax on an updated valuation and setting Band D to the average price for the area would be my starting point.

Or less risk because it's more likely someone will notice something smouldering?

@LakieLady trouble with changing to local income tax is that council tax now funds more and more services, so areas with lots of low income workers would get really shit services.

When CT was set up most council money came from central government funding which we all pay towards under the various national tax schemes. Council tax was just a bit of an add-on to give councils more autonomy. Back then making it a local income tax wouldn't have made much difference in terms of how much money was available to spend locally. But it would make a difference now that funding from central funds has gone down massively and councils need the money from council tax payers in their areas.