Council Tax - Fairer Share Campaign

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I'd be interested to know what people think of this, especially considering rumours that the 25% single person's discount may be abolished.

fairershare.org.uk/

The main points are:

Council tax, Stamp Duty and Bedroom Tax would be abolished and replaced with a Proportional Property Tax

Annual and automated valuations*

Exemptions would end

Based on .48% of property value but .96% for overseas investors

Landlord pays, not tenant (but I could not find any reference to social housing tenants)

They claim 75% of households would see a reduction but any increases are capped at £100 per month (but they do not say if this is transitional in any way and the reduction is based on the full Council Tax so not necessarily a reduction for single householders)

Rises annually by average rise in property values over last 3 years but would stay same or reduce if property values stagnate or fall.

• The full explanation is;

• The existing Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will continue to be responsible for valuation, though under our system most valuations will derive from actual sales data and recent changes to house values in your area. We believe the government could use the wealth of data it already has to build an algorithm similar to those used by websites like Zoopla and Rightmove in making their estimates. Such a system would allow each and every home to be accurately valued based on its unique characteristics.

Personally I would be paying roughly the same as I am paying now but most of the houses in my street are occupied by more than 1 person so they would all get reduced bills.

My main reservations are:

They are a bit vague, or naive even, about valuations being accurate although presumably you could appeal

I do not believe that bills would stay static/fall in line with house prices

High house price increases would mean large increases in bills

Tenants are the ones using local services so should pay the tax themselves

What do you think?

The full explanation refers to 'Annual and automated valuations'.

I think this is a great idea as long as the vast majority pay less or the same. There would need to be an absolutely robust system to reduce challenges and appeals, and the level would need to be set on a per-council basis to allow for variations in house prices by area.

Clearly, landlords would just pass on additional costs in rent.

I'm single on a low income and would have to pay over 1k more than I do now so it's a no from me. Taxing asset value will always screw the low income single home owner as its not based on what they can actually pay or the services they use.

Since council tax pays for services like local government, policing, bin collections etc, why should it be the landlord not the tenant?

Absolutely fecking disastrous for the NE, where house prices are considerably lower than the South. It was widen the North South divide.

My Mum for example lives in a property at the lower end of the property value in her area, I live high middle, yet my house is worth a third less.

Stupid idea by people in the South.

Certainly worse for student tenants, who are currently exempt (up to PhD submission date), but whose rent would be increased under these proposals.

Why should someone living alone in a more expensive property pay more than a couple with three children living in a cheaper property? The first person is not using more public services. Under the 25% single person discount, there was at least something to counterbalance the simple property calculation in recognition of this. Single people are already paying proportionally more council tax than 1/2 of a couple does.

Council Tax and bedroom tax have no bearing on each other for a start.

That website is also using data nearly 4 years old, so is massively out of date.

Waste of time.

My reading off it is that the .48% applies to all councils.
Why do you think challenges and appeals should be reduced?
Yes, it would be included in rent but if a tenant is behind on their rent then they are also behind on the tax. Why should the landlord pay it for them?

especially considering rumours that the 25% single person's discount may be abolished

Key word is rumour @backslashruby It would be political suicide to abolish the 25% discount in England yet have it still apply in Scotland and Wales.

It sounds less fair than council tax.

Based on .48% of property value but .96% for overseas investors

An attack on the (many) average income families and individuals from London and the SE. And especially harmful for the many people on below average incomes from those areas.

As well as social cleansing being morally repugnant, it's terrible for the whole country.

Where will all the priced out people from London and the SE go? There's millions of them. Obviously it would add massive pressure on housing, jobs - and (council funded) public services where they moved to... pushing up house prices there... so then pushing up council tax there...

There's also the issue, for the poorest and most vulnerable, of needing local connection to be eligible for social housing. And obviously many need to stay in their own areas to be near family and support.

A non-variable amount wouldn't work unless they changed the way councils are funded - council budgets do not always reflect the sum total of property values in an area.

Challenges and appeals are expensive. If you have a fair and robust system, they will be reduced.

Landlords own the properties regardless of whether their tenants pay them or not. If it's a property tax, the owner should pay. The issue is then, the tenants are the ones actually benefitting from the council services, which makes it more complicated, unless councils are funded differently (eg a local income tax).

Mine would halve. That just shows what a stupid idea it is.

Yes, I'm hoping it is just a rumour but I did wonder if the 2 things are connected i.e the 25% discount may be abolished because the Govt is considering PPT as a replacement for CT.

Sign our petition calling on the Government to replace Council Tax, Stamp Duty and the Bedroom Tax with the Proportional Property Tax

@backslashruby which government?

Bedroom tax isn't a tax. It is a reduction in benefits.

Whoever is behind this site is a bit clueless.

Landlord pays, not tenant

Will there be a way to stop landlords passing the cost on in increased rent? I doubt it.

Better imo would be 50% discount for single people (I say that as a dual income household), and restoring the full council tax benefits - some councils only give partial discounts for those on benefits and the poorest and most vulnerable.

Although actually I'd rather scrap local/council taxes altogether as I don't like postcode lotteries either for council tax or essential public services. I think all essential public services should be nationally funded (with good standards of provision and access, wherever in the UK). Funded by an increase in income tax.

And if there must be a local tax, it should be income based.

Disastrous for us as we have a very very expensive house in London with a huge mortgage. Our council tax would triple and we would have to sell the house (into a depressed market as the high end property market would collapse). In fact it would probably tip us into leaving the country.

I would be happy to pay more council tax but there should be an upper cap eg £500 per month.

Do you understand that Council Tax policy is devolved? Scotland and Wales have not announced any plans to abolish the 25% reduction. In fact Wales has committed only recently to keeping it.

Stupid idea by people in the South

@ShamblesRock
The idea would be of most harm to people in the south (especially the poorest and most vulnerable). Who've already been harmed by the house price inflation there.

Good point about the non-variable amount.
They sound a bit vague about how exactly properties will be valued so it does not sound 'fair and robust'.
Yes it is a property tax but it is levied to pay for council services so personally I think tenants should pay.

Better bloody not

it sounds extremely unfair. Just because you live in a larger property doesn't always mean that you have money. Farmhouses are large and at the high end already, but most farmers are asset rich cash poor.

I would lose the discount as I am a single parent. I live in a 2 bed bungalow so hardly extravagant, but its already a Band C. My old cottage was a 2 bed and a Band A. None of it seems fair.

Tenants should continue to pay the Council Tax, why should the Landlord pay it if they don't live there? If LL's do have to pay it then monthly rents will just go up by the amount of council tax

i do think that holiday cottages should pay more, maybe double or triple, as they are being run as a business and can bring in a lot of income.

Our bins are already 3 weekly, we pay extra for the garden bin now. We are told that the potholes are nothing to do with Council Tax. I am not sure what else it does pay for now.

I don't agree with taxing 'asset value'. They've paid more in tax (presuming higher earners), they've paid more in stamp duty tax to buy said property already.
A simple per capita fee is the fairest way to fund local services.

Yes, I do know that. Sorry if I didn't make it clear that I'm only talking about England.

The harm in the NE would be on a massive population level, as in every service would become unaffordable. The average house price in my town is less than £160 000.

Shame the website doesn't! When I put my Welsh house details on, it tells me how much I could save.

Edited as I don't think it is OP's website.