United kingdom Daily news: I've axed Labour's 'patio tax' so no more homes will be pushed into higher band because of improvements, says Eric Pickles

Senin, 30 April 2012

I've axed Labour's 'patio tax' so no more homes will be pushed into higher band because of improvements, says Eric Pickles

I've axed Labour's 'patio tax' so no more homes will be pushed into higher band because of improvements, says Eric Pickles

By Steve Doughty

PUBLISHED: 17:53 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 22:08 EST, 30 April 2012

The 'patio tax' which jacked up council tax bills for homes with garden improvements, good neighbourhoods and picturesque views has been scrapped, ministers said yesterday.

In future, no-one will have their house pushed into a higher band for council tax because it has a den in the garden or is next to a golf course, according to new rules for state valuers.

The move ordered by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles ends years of stealthy council tax increases achieved by state snoopers with instructions to charge for every possible advantage a homeowner might enjoy.

Communities Minister Eric Pickles has announced the end of the so-called 'patio tax'

Officials from the Valuation Office Agency have been assessing homes by sheds, outbuildings, balconies and whether they have paved over their gardens to make driveways.

They have raised the council tax valuations of those in conservation areas, next to parks, and have even set the bills according to whether there is a bus stop nearby.

The Coalition has already put an end to prospects of a council tax revaluation of all homes in England, a large-scale exercise which would have used good views and new-built patios to squeeze major council tax rises out of every family.

But the scrapping of the patio tax will help homebuyers because all houses are automatically revalued for council tax every time they change hands.

The Valuation Office Agency was instructed to inquire into the small details of homes and use them to set council tax under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments.

Labour postponed any national revaluation, however, after heavy council tax increases in 2003 led to widespread protests and turned local taxation into a sensitive electoral issue.

The Valuation Office Agency have been developing a computer database which includes the extra amenities for every property in the country

Valuation officials continued to develop ways of increasing council taxes on homes using every conceivable amenity until the 2010 election.

Mr Pickles said: 'We have called time on Labour's patio police, and stopped their nosy parkers from their plans to hike taxes on England's patios, gardens and sheds.

'Despite their claims to the contrary, Labour have been caught red-handed secretly building up a council tax revaluation database to hike taxes on family homes and home improvements.

'This Government has scrapped those tax hike plans and reined in the Big Brother council tax snoopers.' The Valuation Office Agency, whose inspectors put a council tax value on homes every time one is bought and sold, have been developing a computer database which includes the extra amenities for every property in the country.

The database recorded 'value significant codes' and 'dwellinghouse codes' not only on the size and number of rooms in a home, but also on sheds a nd outbuildings, shared drives, gardens, patios, balconies, quiet roads, cul-de-sacs, conservation areas, neighbouring golf courses and parks, nearby bus stops, and the quality of the views from the property.

Bob Neill, the junior Local Government Minister, announced the scrapping of the patio tax in a written answer to MPs. Mr Neill said that a review had been under way into 'whether less information could be collected without affecting the accuracy of banding decisions and the existing council tax lists.

'This review of property attribute information established that there was scope for consolidation and for the cessation of a significant number of codes.'

The number of 'value significant codes' has been reduced from almost 70 to 20, he said.

Homes are currently valued for council tax on the basis of what they would have been worth in 1991, when the tax was first introduced.

Any revaluation would automatically mean big tax increases for prop erties in the southern half of England, which has seen the highest rises in property values over the past two decades.

Estimates say a revaluation would push up the council tax in England by more than 20 per cent, if increases happened on the scale that was experience in Wales when homes there were revalued in 2003.