FURTHER to your article last week regarding Peter Luff's call for the next revaluation of council tax bands to be scrapped, I would like to make the following observations.
The council tax system came into force on April 1, 1993 and each dwelling was given a band based upon its likely sale price as at April 1, 1991.
Unfortunately, since council tax came into being 14 years ago, we have not had another revaluation.
Consequently, there has been a general shift upwards in the capital values of dwellings nationwide. For example, a property that sold in 1991 for £47,000 has now sold for £278,000.
The top council tax assessment is band H which includes all dwellings that were worth more than £320,000 on April 1, 1991. It is difficult to explain to a member of the public, who has just bought his newly-built house, that it is being valued as at April 1, 1991 levels of value.
The bands need to be wider from £20,000 to above £1m. The actual council tax payable is set by the local authority and has nothing to do with the tribunals.
On average, a quarter of local government revenue is financed through council tax.
Following a revaluation, assuming that the amount that local authorities receive in grant aid from the Government remains the same, the council tax yield will remain the same.
Yes, some people will expect to pay more following a revaluation, if their houses have been extended or have seen greater increases in value than houses in other neighbourhoods.
However, there will also be a similar number of people whose dwellings have not risen in value in line with the national average who will see a reduction in their council tax liability.
Any person who is aggrieved by their level of assessment, following a revaluation, will have the right of appeal. In the first instance, they will be able to appeal to the listing officer at the Valuation Office, who valued their dwellings. If the listing officer rejects their appeal, they then have the right of appeal to the valuation tribunal.
PETER JEWELL,
President of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Valuation Tribunal, Chairman Members Judicial Committee for the 56 English Tribunals.
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