council tax band G & H to double

[StrawberryThief1930]

has anyone seen the rumours that the council tax rates for bands G and H are going to double?

I know everything is just rumours at the moment but im worried this one might stick. easy to implement in an existing system and doesn't require the revaluation of thousands of houses etc.

I'm about to buy a G band house. Seriously questioning whether we can afford it. The current council tax is £4k a year. so £8k a year. Over £300 a month more than we had budgeted. we have spreadsheets coming out of our ears trying to check we can afford this house. Buying with a 40% deposit. im sweating...

anyone have the same worries? or further thoughts?

Of course, but we sold that house and we're now in a band D in a completely different location so it's no longer our problem. Glad we sold it when we did!

I was merely illustrating how ridiculous the whole system is (and possibly about to get worse for some people who can ill afford it).

Are we going to cosset every pensioner forever more? When I’m a pensioner - who will pay for me to live beyond my means please.

Don't be silly, there will be nothing left for future pensioners!

This depends where you are.

My parents live in a house in London which today is worth a similar amount to my house in Scotland.

They are band D, I am band G. I tried to get my house's rating reviewed but it sold for about £500 over the bottom of the band G threshold in the year that the thresholds were set. The G band was really wide compared with the bands below it. It's really not a fancy house worth millions- its scraping along the bottom of a very wide band, and because house prices have increased so slowly here, we're paying almost twice the council tax that my parents do, despite their house being worth similar.

This is one of the key issues with the council tax- there might have been some fairness to it when the bands were set, but property prices have changed rapidly across the UK, and at very different rates depending on whether you're in Notting Hill or Blackpool etc etc.

Changes to council tax wouldn't be fair without it being a complete overhaul of the system.

Thanks - I think people just seem to jump to a knee jerk reaction of outrage these days without looking at what they are being outraged at. It’s exhausting.

How do you know what’s likely?

Thanks - I think people just seem to jump to a knee jerk reaction of outrage these days without looking at what they are being outraged at. It’s exhausting.

Yep!

I'm in the same boat, looking to buy a band G house. It's nice but not a mansion, just a 4 bed detached house in the midlands. We will pull out if the council tax doubles as we just can't afford it.

To the posters that think the elderly should move out of their "oversized properties"; where to exactly? What kind of properties are you actually seeing in your imaginations?

In many parts of the country there aren't affordable bungalows or nice manageable or accessible smaller properties.

You're also working on the assumption that the selling price will cover somewhere new but in a lot of areas that won't happen. You can't expect older people to take out mortgages or do you ..

Not least all that'll be happening is that noone will actually buy these properties with their ridiculously high price bands.

Yes so are we and it’s a struggle but if this happens forget it.

Also the stamp duty is so ridiculous if you move

it will ruin the property market

@EasternStandardCouncil tax rates have been problematic for years and is a current issue for all councils with rising (predominantly social care) expenditure, money needs to be raised from somewhere and council tax has a lot of issues due to the disparity of regions, new build v historic banding etc
it’s something that is often talked about by political parties as needing addressing although it wasn’t specifically in the Labour parties last manifesto its a continual issue likely to be addressed in some form - but what that will be is purely speculation at the moment
So I don’t ‘know’ but on balance of probability it’s likely to come up in some form.

Tax should have a bit of logic to it. Why should people in more expensive houses pay more for the same services?

And. This is the 2nd thread today I’ve felt the need to say this. Why do some people on this site think that because some people live in expensive areas so have to spend more on housing magically have more money ? The Chelsea flat isn’t a great example but why should someone in a small terrace in Staines pay more than someone in a small terrace in Bradford? They’ve already had to pay twice as much for their house!

And they will have paid a lot of stamp duty to purchase the property especially in recent times

Tax should have a bit of logic to it.

It doesn't really have that currently.

Re all the posts saying those who can't afford outrageous sudden huge increase in Council Tax like elderly owners should just vacate them - seem to be uninformed that the property market has ground to a virtual halt with nothing selling much especially in London - so not so easy to just down size.

Wow. What a stupid comment. How many people do you know who have moved (or would move) to a house that didn't suit their needs?

@YamammI suspect that’s not a great Chelsea’s rates are significantly lower than Bradfords
richer expensive boroughs/councils charge less across bands than poorer areas - London having generally much cheaper rates than poor cheap areas
The burden is disproportionately on Low income areas
Money weekly did a comparison with residents in Pendle Lancashire spending percentage wise 10.97% of their median annual income on CT compared with City of London residents who pay 2.1% of median income.
https://moneyweek.com/personal-finance/council-tax-burden-highest-lowest-uk#:~:text=In%2520Pendle%252C%2520a%2520borough%2520in,annual%2520income%2520of%2520%C2%A323%252C100.

It’s not unreasonable to believe that your council tax will not double overnight. Would you be able to afford an overnight doubling of your council tax?

We're in a 3-bed terrace in band C and pay about the same as you.

i haven't had chance to read all the replies yet, but just thought I'd add that the house we're buying isnt a mansion! its a 5 bed semi. we're trying to upsize from a 4 bed.

Crikey! I am in Wales. Where are you?

Fingers crossed the crash is finally on its way

Apart from when we had the 12 months stamp duty holiday under the conservatives

I live in the SE. My house is worth £650k (compared to £1m for similar houses in more expensive areas) and we are band G. We pay £340 per month as it is.

Yes true but that was 4 years’ ago and it pushed prices up