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Government rules out council tax revaluation during current Parliament 24 September 2010
Steven Jackson (about the author)

There will be no revaluation of council tax bands in England during the current Parliament, Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has announced.

And Mr Pickles announced an independent review of council tax inspections, which he said would 'rein in intrusive snooping' by limiting the data gathered and stored about people's homes.

The Communities Secretary said families in England could save up to £320 a year in local tax hikes from his decision not to go ahead with a revaluation being planned by Labour.

Less well-off would be hit hardest

Council tax bands in England are based on valuations of property carried out in 1991. Plans for a revaluation of 22m homes in 2007 were postponed by the former Labour government in 2005, amid anger over a previous exercise in Wales which led to tax hikes for many households.

Mr Pickles said the Welsh revaluation led to one-third of homes moving up one or more bands - four times as many as moved down. The less well-off were hit the hardest, with two-thirds of the hikes in homes that were originally in the lowest three bands, he said.

If the experience of Wales were repeated in England, families in homes moved up one band from D to E would face a tax hike averaging around £320 a year, said Mr Pickles.

This would increase the burden of council tax bills which rose under Labour from £688 for a typical Band D home in 1997/98 to £1,439 in 2009/10, said the Communities Secretary.

Steven Jackson of beatmydebt.com welcomed the news. "Now is the time for the government to be doing all it can to keep living expenses for families as low as possible. This delay in council tax revaluation will make things easier for people and will help protect the most vunerable from falling deeper into debt" he said.

Taxpayer will also save

Meanwhile, the taxpayer will save up to £180m on the cost of administering a revaluation exercise, he said.

An independent data audit of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will protect privacy and civil liberties as part of the new Government's agenda of dismantling the 'database state', said Mr Pickles.

The VOA's inspectors assess properties' value for council tax purposes, and there was previously controversy over their collection of data on features of homes such as the number of bedrooms or bathrooms, whether it has a patio and whether it enjoys a nice view or is in a good neighbourhood.

Mr Pickles said: 'We have cancelled Labour's plans for a council tax revaluation which would have hiked up taxes on people's homes. The new Government will protect the privacy of law-abiding citizens from intrusive spies-in-the-sky and halt state inspectors from barging into England's bedrooms and gardens'.

'We are standing up for the people who have pride in their home, and calling time on Labour's state snoopers and surveillance state.

'Hefty council tax bills are a constant financial worry for many people. We are setting their minds at ease, and protecting the interests of the less well-off in particular who were the hardest hit from Labour's council tax revaluation in Wales.'

Source: Mail Online