Council tax rises hit 100,000

Author: Daily Telegraph - Jun 8, 2009

The Government's Valuation Office Agency has the power to move people into a higher council tax band if the property has been improved such as having a porch added, a loft converted or a kitchen extended. Even tree houses have fallen foul of the rules.

The higher taxes, equating to about £200 a year extra, have been attacked as a tax on home owners who want to better their properties and neighbourhood.

The Liberal Democrats have established that since 1997 the Agency has revalued 553,00 properties under these rules, with 102,000 moving into a higher tax band. The rest remained unchanged.

In the past two years alone, 27,804 properties have been bumped up – many of them in the South East.

Ministers insist that council tax revaluation will not happen until after the next election.

But Julia Goldsworthy, the Liberal Democrat local government spokesman, said the figures proved revaluations were happening "by stealth".

"It's clear that we are seeing council tax revaluation by stealth.

"More than 100,000 families are paying more since improvements were made to their property and there is worse to come.

"Ministers have made no promises to avoid mass national revaluation following the general election, leaving families all over the country with even higher council tax bills."

If a home changes hands, the Valuation Office Agency is notified, allowing it to carry out an inspection to determine whether the property should go up a tax band. It moves up to a higher tax band when the property is sold – landing the new owners with an unpleasant surprise when they move in.

According to the Liberal Democrats, a move up would see a typical bill rise £200 from £1,175 to about £1,375.

Current council tax bills are based on a 1991 assessment of properties. But ministers are building a database of all 26 million households in England to help calculate future charges.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "Over the past three years the numbers of homes whose council tax banding has changed is less than 1 per cent of all properties.

"A change that increases a property's value does not automatically lead to a council tax increase as it may stay within the existing band range."

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