to think a 20% increase in council tax is just a tad unreasonable in this ecnomy.

[AtheneNoctua]

WTF?! We cannot afford this.

I think there must be some error. We are in the second highest band in Spelthorne (Sunbury) and I just can't get my head round how anyone could put our haouse in this band.

Does anyone know how/if we can challenge the band we are in?

Have a look here

HTH

Ah, but all those public sector pensions have to be financed somehow you know. Have you got a 2/3rds salary final pension scheme? No, because all your money is paying for theirs

Thanks, that was helpful. It appears I have neighbors with bigger and smaller houses in the same band. SO, doubt I'm going to get out of it.

But, still, 20%?!?!?! How is this reasonable?

That would be funny, nametaken, if I wasn't so hacked off about the whole thing.

I know our council tax is extremely high compared to other locations due to the high unemployment/people on benefits = people on council tax benefits.

The pot has to be split among a smaller group of people than in more affluent areas.

So, a recession doesn't necessarily mean lower councli tax. The council still has to provide the services and possibly has fewer people to collect from.

Has your band changed then?

I live in a street where there are mostly 4 and 5 bedroomed houses with a very few 3 bedroom houses. After a while I realised that our 3 bedder was the same banding as the 5 bedroom houses, which was clearly ridiculous.

I was told that when the bandings were set, what used to happen is that a chap would drive around, have a quick look at the street, decide on the value as at 1990 something and set the banding. I challenged our banding and got it changed, and had a lovely rebate. The women who owned the house before also had a rebate, which was an unfortunate outcome as I didn't want her to benefit, as she'd left the house in a terrible condition! Anyway, some of our neighbours love us now because their banding also decreased.

It was a fairly easy and painless process, I'd advise you to give it a go. What helped for me was to interrogate rightmove.co.uk for information on council tax bandings for similar properties. I had a fair bit of information before ringing the council. It isn't your local council who'll make the decision, however.

If your banding hasn't changed, then I'm surprised at a 20% rise. The government has capped council tax increases to (I think) 5%.

Same band, new price. 20% higher than last year!

I'm shocked. When we were budget setting this year (I work for council) there was lots of talk of council tax rises being capped to under 5%. Maybe it was a local thing.

havent had new bill through yet

but if 20% more than will be another £26 a month - affordable but wouldnt be happy with it

< waits for postie>

AN, we live not too far from you, but different Council, and I was surprised (and relieved!)this year at how little ours had gone up. I've just had a look at the Spelthorne website and it appears that each of the three elements of the Council Tax have gone up by a couple of percent this year so the overall increase should only be about 4%, from a quick look. I would definitely call them and check what is going on.

Agree with llareggub. We also managed to get the band reduced on our previous property. It was mad as the little 2 bed cottage we were in at the time (shared courtyard garden, shared parking, etc) was just one band below our neighbour's huge Geogian mansion (he also happpened to be the local MP) Anway, I appealed and after a while got it changed. The rebate we got equalled nearly 1 year's council tax. Gotta be worth a go.

I've done a check on the houses on our street. One bigger and several smaller. And we are all in Band G. So, it's not looking good.

But, how do I work out what our house was worth in 1991? We rent, so I have no idea what it was bought for.

band g

wow athene

puts my lowly c to shame

Worth a go, I'd say. You might make yourself unpopular though if they decide your banding is correct but the biggest house is incorrect!

That's the thing. If you saw my house, you'd be thinking ... really?

20% That's shocking !! ours has gone up by 4%.

Have you got information about the increase? I don't mean you've got it wrong, but I do wonder if you've been sent the wrong information. We haven't had out bill yet.

Have a look at this which sets out the government's expectations regarding council tax. I'd see a 20% rise as exceedingly unlikely unless your band has changed or you've been quoted the rate for the wrong band.

That seems a huge increase, are you absolutely sure this is right??

Ours has only gone up 3.4% (Surrey). I say only, but it still means we pay £150 per month on our little 2.5 bed semi.
But 20%!! There has to be a mistake, there just has to be!

We got a bill for £2130 on Saturday morning so am going to have a look see if there is any way we can some how get this lowered!

DH was less than happy as we had a gas bill for £700 on Friday too!

I will be in his good books for ages if I could get this lowered!

20%

Haven't had the final figure here but our council newspaper thing they deliver had the headline that council tax rise is the lowest for 14 years. Also gave the figures without the parish church thing on and it's about on a par with last year. Am shocked it's gone up so much in your area.

ok, this is going to be my mission for tonight. That is a useful letter. Thank you llareggub.

ours has gone up by 7%, after last year when it was nearly 20% - I just don't get how they can justify such rises in this economy either. Surely it should be restricted to inflation? Afterall, most people's salaries get reviewed with an inflationary rise - now whacking great percentages... it doesn't make sense.

20% seems wrong - usually there is a lot of discussion about capping if the increase goes above 7%. Are you sure that you've got it right? Which party runs your council?