§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many properties were included in each of the bands set down for the purposes of council tax in the first year following its introduction and in the current years; what were the values of properties in 32WA the bands in that first year and what they are today; and whether they consider that there is general acceptance that the structures and values within each band are appropriate. [HL4211]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonIn each year of operation of the council tax, dwellngs have been allocated to council tax bands on the basis of their estimated value as at 1 April 1991. The following table gives figures for England, as used for the first and most recent years of operation.
Number (rounded to nearest thousand) as at: Band (valuation for council tax purposes as at 1 April 1991) December 1992a 16 October 2001 A (under £40,000) 5,245,000 5,562,000 B (£40,001–£52,000) 3,828,000 4,121,000 C (£52,001–£68,000) 4,377,000 4,600,000 D (£68,001–£88,000) 2,912,000 3,184,000 E (£88,001–£120,000) 1,813,000 1,984,000 F (£120,001–£160,000) 983,000 1,046,000 G (£160,000–£320,000) 748,000 755,000 H (Over £320,000) 121,000 117,000 Total 20,026,000 21,369,000 a There was some movement to lower bands as a result of successful appeals during the first two or three years of the operation of council tax. We do not hold information on the values of individual properties within each band.
Information on Wales and Scotland is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive respectively.
The council tax is widely accepted and understood by taxpayers. However, if the system is not to fall into disrepute, it is important that banding reflects up-to-date property values. We announced in the Local Government White Paper, Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services, that we will introduce regular 10-yearly revaluations, the first of which will impact on bills in 2007 based on 2005 values. We will listen to people's views on banding prior to the revaluation.