15 October 2004
Detailed information about individual properties will be published for the 2007 council tax revaluation exercise, but the government has denied that it will be used to compile the revised bandings.
A consultation paper by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is proposing that the valuation lists, compiled by the Valuation Office Agency for each local authority, contain information such as the number of bedrooms, garages and floor area of each property.
But the department told Public Finance that the consultation is to decide which information should be publicly available to ensure the revaluation exercise is transparent.
The information will not be used to band individual properties. Consequently, homeowners who undertake home improvements, such as loft conversions or extensions, will not be placed in higher bandings than their neighbours.
'The consultation is about what information is provided so that people can understand their banding. It is to make the system easier to understand, not to recalculate the bandings,' an ODPM spokesman said. The revaluation exercise, the first since council tax was introduced, will result in many properties moving tax bands to reflect soaring property prices. It is due to start next year and will determine bills for 2007/08.
One local government source suggested that the move towards greater transparency was designed to take some of the heat out of a controversial exercise.
'Council tax is a high-profile issue so there will be more public scrutiny. The government needs to have this information so that it can show it has got it right.' The consultation ends on January 4, 2005.
PFoct2004
