Households in the North are paying on average £250 a year more than they should be for council tax due to ‘unfair and outdated council tax bands’, according to campaigners.
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) says that uneven changes in the UK property market over the past three decades means that Northern households are paying a total of £1.2bn a year in council tax more than they should.
Someone living in a house in Hartlepool worth £150,000 pays over £200 a year more in council tax than a person in Westminster in a property worth £8m, according to campaign group Fairer Share.
A property in Gateshead will likely see their council tax bill go up by over £116 this year, compared to £45 in Westminster.
Henri Murison, Chief Executive at the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: ‘The current system is inherently regressive and unfair, with too many properties banded too highly, and vice versa, due to outdated figures. With a quickly growing number of councils filing – or close to filing – for bankruptcy, the government should announce a revaluation, which is now more than 20 years overdue, at the spring budget.’
