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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Housing costs  →  Thread

Council Tax Bands

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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Joined: 12 March 2013

Saw this story on Rightsnet today calling for Council Tax revaluation because the 1991 price bands are out of date; and also calling for more bands.  This is frequently suggested and I think it confuses two things.  There are echoes here of the Universal Credit 53-week year myth.

First issue: the 1991 bands.  Let’s say my house is worth twice as much as each of the two flats in the converted house down the street; and let’s say it is worth half as much as the big detached house up the street.  Give or take, this won’t have changed much since 1991.  Revaluing all these properties will result in similar values relative to one another and will probably have no effect on their Council Tax banding.  Whenever the revaluation idea is discussed in the media, it becomes apparent that people think their properties are banded too high because of their increase in value since 1991.  This is not true - only a change in the value of properties relative to one another would affect the banding.  To employ the reductio ad absurdum device, an authority with all of its properties in Band A and another with all its properties in Band H would need to charge exactly the same amount of Council Tax to raise a given amount.

The separate issue of changing the number of bands could be achieved without revaluing every property in the country.  If you want to add more at the top, it’s only Band H that needs a revaluation; if you want to add more at the bottom it’s only Band A.  But this could still be done by reference to the 1991 value as long as the valuations determining the new bands are in proportion to the existing valuations.

andyrichards
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City services - Brighton and Hove City Council

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A bit worrying if MPs don’t understand the thing about valuations….....

They may be swayed by the other fairly recent story that a third of banding appeals result in a band reduction.  But there is a big difference between clearly anomalous individual valuations being put right by appeals, and what a general revaluation would achieve.

I suppose the other point is “optics” - the 1991 amounts seem ridiculous and therefore fuel the idea that they must all be wrong.  In my area, you couldn’t buy anything for less than 1991 Band G, and 1991 Band A wouldn’t get you a garage!

John Birks
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Welfare Rights and Debt Advice - Stockport Council

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Gentrification before revaluation.