The Government’s Pre-Budget Report detailed “inflation-busting” council tax rises of 6% next year and 4.7% the year after, but the full picture is worse, says the Daily Express. After the general election, Labour plans to revalue the council-tax band of all properties, taking into account any ‘positive’ features, including treehouses, conservatories, “proximity to open fields, a village green or extensive landscaped grounds”.
Preparations for the reclassification are underway. A database of nearly every property in the country has been created, at a cost of around £13m. Wales has already had a council tax revaluation, “which saw four times as many homes moving up a band as moving down”, says James Chapman in the Daily Mail.
Ministers have admitted that council tax inspectors intend to measure conservatories and log details of greenhouses, but this week a spokesman for the Communities and Local Government department sought to allay fears of rises, saying, “Band changes are made only once a property is sold, so no one will be penalised for adding a treehouse or making improvements”.