scotscaz

I assume that there is an equivalent in Australia, if so, how can we find out what we will pay. We are looking to rent but there is no mention on the real estate sites of what you will need to pay.

Thanks again

Alfresco

If you're renting then there are no Rates (Council tax) to pay. The landlord pays it. Same with water (mostly here anyway).

scotscaz

Thanks, this explains why we didn't see any mention in the adverts! So, it is only when you own the property that you pay the rates.

Alfresco

martin1978

Yep which is one of the main reasons why the rents are higher here. Try telling that to those who keep comparing it to the UK. My last Council Tax bill in the UK was 160UK pounds per month(band B). Can't remember the water rates. You save on the heating bills as well here.

Pit Bull.

From what I can gather through my research, council rates, or the equivalent in Oz vary from being about $1200 to about $1600 which is a lot cheaper than the UK, plus alot of the houses are a lot bigger, a similar sized house as a big 4x2 in Australia, in the UK would have rates at about £2,000.

Gibbo

The council rates here are levied on the value of the land. Doesn't matter how large or small the house is that is built on it.

Pit Bull.

I didn't know that cheers, I was just going by what rates costs were being quoted on houses shown on realestate.com.au looking at house prices between $450 to $600k.

chris955

Our house here is bigger than the one we sold in Australia but our rates are nowhere near £2000, we definitely pay more than we did in Australia but our water is only around £120 for the year because we cant have a meter
Our rates in Australia were just under $2000.

KJCherokee

That depends on the state or council. In Qld it is the unimproved land value that the rates are based on but in SA (if I remember correctly) it is the value of house and land together.

This resulted in a fuss in Brisbane a year or two ago when the mayor suggested that rates for inner city high-rise apartments should be based on property value rather than land value. If you have 120 apartments in a tower block sitting on a $15 million block of land, the rates for each one are considerably less than a single house on a $300,000 block in the suburbs, but they use the same services. Not sure where that idea ended up.

chris955

Well with the mess Queensland is in it may well rear it's ugly head again.

hoofie2002

Too low - my rates this year for Joondalup in Perth were nearly $1700 - rates have gone up quite a lot in the last 6 years.

Plus my water standing charge was about $800 plus this year also.

You cannot pay monthly either - it's one chunk or 2/4 payments.

On the plus side, when I left the UK 6 years ago my council tax was over 100 quid a month for a crap service. Here, the bins are uplifted every week even on public holidays and the leisure centres/libraries are good.

Maybe the difference is the local authorities tend not be to organised on political lines unlike state or federal government plus things like schools etc are state responsibilities.

Pit Bull.

It's all banded here in the UK, an house costing say £300,000 in most places will be in a higher band and be near the top end, that's what I was referring to, mine is a Band C costing £1450 but my house is worth about £175,000. My water rates is £35 per month, or just over £400 for the year.

Alfresco

Our council tax in Surrey two years ago when we left was £167.50 per month = £2010 ($3015) per annum as home owners or tenants.

Here we pay nothing for a much better service as tenants.

I haven't paid for a drop of water either. May have to in our new rental, but usage only.

ROMFT_WO2RN

Council tax of our last rental in UK £166 a month but for 10 months so £1660 + water at 45 a month for 8 months = £360 not metered. Been stung for all water charges here as there are water restrictions in place Will have to wait and see when the first bills start coming through as to which is more expensive. Rent is a similar proportion of take home in each location.