Council Tax bands

[titbumwillypoo]

Council tax bands were set in 1991 and do not reflect the wealth distribution of the country today it's about time they were updated. It's ridiculous that a band D home in Islington where the average house price is £685000 is £1276.48 a year when a Band D house in Barnsley average price of £166000 is £2126.77.
Government should update the banding values, collect all the money and distribute it based on the actual demographics of the area which would be a fairer funding model. Some areas might be child heavy or pensioner heavy and it would allow councils to fulfil their statutory duties better if they had the funding in place.
Band A £0-£100000
Band B £100001-£200000
Band C £200001-£300000
Band D £300001-£400000
Band E £400001-£500000
Band F £500001-£600000
Band G £600001-£700000
Band H £700001 upwards

I agree with you that things should be balanced better but I don't think it should be banded by house price when house prices can put you in a completely different kind of housing situation in different parts of the country. A small 2-bed maisonette in London costs the same as a 6 bedroom mansion in a cheaper part of the country. It's not like it costs significantly more to supply street lighting etc.

I think it should be reformed so that you pay for the square-meterage of the home divided by the number of persons who live there (with under 18s being 0.5 persons and under 2s being 0.25 persons) and where if you own two properties your "persons" get divided between the two so you'll pay even more so it incentises people to downsize to the size of home they need but it's irrelevant whether you live in a popular area with over inflated property prices or somewhere remote and rural.

Fairest thing to to increase the number of bands up to Z

Mad that a multi million pound mansion pays the same as a 3 bed semi

Centralising Council tax money will not work - Councils need the power to raise taxes locally
Rural councils need more per capita than urban

I agree. Our 4 bedroom detached has a higher band than a bloody Manor House with 12 bedrooms. Same council. I don’t understand it at all

I don’t think it should be done like that, with your banding example in my area you’d have most family houses at band E and above and pretty much no properties in band B. The south would be paying a huge amount to subsidise the rest of the country when we already have huge house prices to contend with, that wouldn’t be fair.

It needs to be redone but not based on house value.

You can write to the council if you think you’re on the wrong band.

You’re right, it isn’t fit for purpose.. I’m currently challenging my band, we are in Band E. Our house is a 3 bed detached in North Derbyshire, current value approximately £375, we’ve been here for 11 years.

Some houses on our road, same style etc are in band D, it makes no sense. Every house of our style on the next road, built by the same developer in the 1960’s are in Band D. There are 3 of us banded in E?! I’ve tried myself to argue this with the valuations office, but failed. I have now instructed someone who used to work for these people, now retired, to try again for me, fingers crossed 🤞

All houses need to be rebanded with a couple of extra tiers on the top. Obviously, the amount you pay in each band will depend on the house prices in each council. If they don't do it soon, it won't be done.

Sorry to ask a daft question but where are people finding all this extra money per month to pay for these higher Council Tax rates that you want. We don’t all have a magic money tree in our back garden.

@Snippit does yours sit on a larger plot? Just trying to understand your banding as it does seem strange. I used to work in council tax and the general rule of thumb for where we were, if I remember correctly and it has been a long time, D bands were the starting point and every band is a percentage higher or lower than that.

A 3 bed detached was a D band, 3 bed semi C, 2 bed semi B also a 1 bed quarter houses was a B, then A band covered bedsits, studios and 1 bed flats I think. A the other end, 4 bed detached E band, 4 bed exec (larger or double garaged) and also 5 bed, an F band.

It feels wrong that you have direct comparisons in your street and the next street and the VOA are being arseholes about it. Based on what you have said I cannot see why you are banded higher. The honest truth is that councils had to band properties and there are definitely still properties banded incorrectly today. Local to me (not where I worked in ctax) there is an entire estate that I believe has one house type incorrectly banded but I bet they would fight it because it would be a loss of revenue and back crediting would cost too.

VOA band it, council bill it. There definitely needs to be additional bands both at the absolute bottom end where people are effectively living in a teeny studio and also at the top end where it needs staggering out.

The purpose isn't to increase the overall take, just make it fairer.

2004 for Wales.

Yanbu I've posted about this before.
Same road. Same price paid. One band b and one band f.

@Awwlookatmybabyspider
The only people who would be affected by the extra bands are those in band H

Why should a family home worth £700k
pay the same council tax as a certain £18m penthouse ?

It should be on Band Z

Was just discussing that today. My home is worth £250000 (1930s 4 bed semi) and band a. Dc is buying a 2 bed new build terrace for £150000 which will be band b. It feels very unfair.

Why is the value of the house relevant?

Does a family with 2 children who live in a house valued 2 million use four times more council services than the same family of four who live in a house values at half a mil?

@OrwellianTimes
House resale value is one of the few unavoidables in the tax system
its very hard to game so an excellent basis for charges.

Using modern big data techniques and Land Registry data for the last 35 years
it would be entirely possible to
electronically reband every UK property
to current valuations
add in 20 more bands
retaining the same fee level for 85% of properties

there just needs to be the will at DCLG and the VOA

No, but they are more likely to be able to afford it. It's redistributive taxation.

The RELATIVE value of the house is relevant.

Band G Council Tax in Westminster is less than Band A in Hartlepool
because there are lots of Band H in central London
and hardly any in Hartlepool

It definitely should not be by price. Here on the fringe of London (one of the cheapest parts of London), ordinary 3 bed semis would be G or H under the OPs plans.

It should be reassessed as there are so many anomolies. When I lived in a fairly large 4 bed house in an inner London borough it was band D. Now I live in a cheaper, smaller house it is Band F.
I am one of the great many people who are asset rich, cash poor and my income would not cope with a big increase in Council Tax. It should be largely based on the square footage of the house, with maybe an increase for off street parking, a garage and differentiate between flats, terrace, semi, detached.

Its really important to realise that BANDS
do not equal CHARGES

The range of "Band D" charged is enormous across the country.
(less than £800 in central London, over £3000 in the Rural Marches)

Bands SHOULD be by value - to create a solid benchmark of the properties in an area
what the council CHARGES to each house in its area will vary depending on local requirements

(can you tell I'm rather a council tax stats geek)

Awww, you love spending other families' money.

Can't earn your own?

I would prefer local income tax, however that is not going to happen. So a revaluation would be better than no change.

Yes thus is what I think. It should be per person.

You do realise you are proposing to reintroduce the Poll Tax?