§ Mr. SutcliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the impact of a significant event affecting the valuation of properties on valuation of properties for council tax purposes.
§ Mr. CurryFor council tax purposes, all dwellings are allocated to valuation bands according to the price that they might reasonably have been expected to have fetched had they been sold, subject to certain assumptions, on 1 April 1991. The listing officer will be prepared to review the banding where there has been a change in the physical state of its locality, for example where a major new road is opened, which has the effect of reducing the value of the dwellings in that area. The impact of such a "significant event" on the housing market will, of course, vary from case to case.