bcworld

Not sure it really works that way...years ago when I lived in Wandsworth the council tax was cheap as chips, about half what it was in the next borough along. Looks like it still is according to the map below.

Mapped: do you live in a high council tax area? - Telegraph

Seems to be pretty random.

verystormy

We live in what is generally thought of as one of the most expensive places to live in the UK. Heck we only have 1 supermarket - Waitrose! But, except for rents which are stupidly high, day to day costs we find a lot cheaper than Perth. Petrol is obviously a lot more, but, I don't need to drive half as much.

Bermudashorts

Think I need to appeal mine. We seem to be paying Bamd G rates for East Herts. But we live in an end terraced house and I doubt that it would be suitable for any family with more than one child, maybe two small ones. It has also increased 33% since last year, I was a bit confused as I wondered did I not do a full year last year with moving back, but it is ridiculously high now.

Tr1boy

It's interesting this. We live in Winchester, right in town and this is not an area known for its lack of wealth ( I do my best to counter balance this).

We live in a large 2 bed townhouse, no parking, no driveway, no garden ( shared courtyard). We pay £176 per mth which has not changed since we moved in as there is a 5yr freeze on increases here ( not sure how long to go). We are band E.

But there was thread a while back in MBTTUK where someone in a flat in Derbyshire was paying £200 it seems to have no logic to me.

rasen78

Your council tax rate should be based on the value of your house. So if you have bought recently, check the banding rates with your local council. Definitely appeal if it is in a higher banding to what you purchased it for.

It took my father 10 years to claim his council tax rebate because he was convinced their banding would be changed. My parent's home was valued on the old rates system (as all properties were when council tax was introduced) and their house was classed as a 2 up 2 down. So it was placed in the Band A. My dad was convinced that if he put in a claim for council tax rebate, they would put the change the band as the house is now a 4 bed. But councils cannot change the banding unless you appeal, or if the property is sold. (unless the rules have changed in the last 3.5 yrs)

Bermudashorts

We bought eight years ago. It is expensive in the grand scheme of UK houses because it is commutable to London, but it is definitely not expensive for the South East area more generally. I look at googlemaps of the village and we seem to be one of only a few houses (the rest being my terraced block) not on acres of land! That we could be in the second highest of eight bands is simply ludicrous and am going to investigate it.

Beoz

Yeah. I was living in Wandsworth paying peanuts compared to the houses across the street, maybe 15 metres away, paying through the nose for Lambeth's rate.

Gordon Barlow

And calling you "shit-for-brains"...

ozzieeagle

I've totally lost touch with the UK rates systems.... Is council tax rates or poll tax or a combination of both ?

Tr1boy

No such thing as poll tax, hasn't been for years. Council tax covers everything except water rates.

ozzieeagle

So private renters dont pay rates and it's included in their rent as in Aus ?

Because when I rented in the UK years ago, I never paid rates.

bcworld

You pay the council tax when you rent.

TGA

Its a factual article. Aus is very boring if you are coming from a city like london, it has just as much rain (if not more), dark evenings, ghost town citys after 9pm, no social life unless you enjoy sitting on an esky guarding your beers in someones back garden, limited culture, tall poppy syndrome, rude people, slobbish attitudes, ugly overhead cables, terrible driving standards, meth amphetamine epidemic, skanky women, poorly built houses, cold, birds that want to peck your eyes out, spiders that hide in shoes and under tiolet seats waiting to kill you with a single bite, sharks in the sea AND rivers waiting to eat you,snakes that want to kill your kids, trafic cops that hide in bushes with speed cameras, people shopping in pyjamas and bare feet, people that frown because you dared not to reverse into a parking slot, stupid misspelling of names, nasal whiny accents, inability to take any criticism of their precious country, p!ssy beer, disgusting "snags" $7 lemons.

I'll leave it at that for now.

Tr1boy

Not sure how you decuced that from what I wrote renters pay council tax, owners pay council tax, it's the same thing as rates.

I've never really understood the expression 'renters don't pay rates in Oz'. Whenever I've rented a place out, I divide the cost of the annual rates by 13 and add it to to the rent. The tenant pays, just doesn't see it separately.

ozzieeagle

Hang on.... what as a seperate bill ? Or included in the rent with the council tax being the landlords responsibility. Because that's how it was when I left the UK.

If it is a seperate bill, whats the difference between that and a poll tax ?