The British Property Federation is calling on political parties to carry out the first revaluation of the council tax system since 1991, and to invest potential gains into affordable housing.
This would be a fairer way of generating revenues for affordable housing than a mansion tax, and a would “not lead to large amounts of the population being out of pocket”, a statement from the BPF said today.
Figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation based on a hypothetical revaluation in 2012 show that there would be winners and losers from council tax reform based on the value of the property, but that 70% of UK households would only see a negligible change in their bill. Bills for roughly half of London residents would remain the same, but a quarter would see their bills increase by £25-£50, while 4% would see an increase of over 50%.
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Property taxes require regular revaluation to maintain fairness and economic efficiency and council tax has not been updated since 1991. Politicians, through their continual postponement of a council tax revaluation, are bringing the credibility of council tax into disrepute. If you are going to have a tax based on property values then you have got to have revaluations more often than every 23 years.”
sophia.furber@estatesgazette.com
