Secret council tax database penalises homes with a view
Patrick Hennessy and Ben Leapman Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 2:05am GMT 23/03/2008
Millions of homes face higher council tax bills after being logged as having off-street parking or a pleasant view, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
Ministers have admitted that Government inspectors are building a secret database that will eventually cover all 23 million homes in England.
The revelations follow a week when council tax bills for 2008-09 have been landing on doormats all over the country. This week, the Government will confirm that some will have rises this year of up to 11 per cent, more than four times the rate of inflation. A Victorian terrace: Secret council tax database penalises homes with a view Eight million homes with off-street parking places have been identified. The database will eventually cover all 23 million homes in England
Families living in homes seen as having desirable features face significant increases after ministers complete their revaluation exercise, which they claim has been postponed indefinitely.
However, ministers have had to admit that eight million homes have been identified as having one or more off-street parking places with details of the exact number of spaces - from one to nine - kept on file. On top of this, 80,000 homes have been officially recorded as having the "value significant" feature of a scenic view.
Again, precise details of whether the view is of the sea, hills, mountains, lakes, fields or golf courses have been recorded. Different codes are provided for a "partial view" and a "full view".
Last night, Eric Pickles, the Conservative local government spokesman, said: "This is new evidence of the Government's great council tax cover-up. Ministers' claims that the revaluation in England was postponed have been completely shredded. advertisement
"Every home is being sized up, and every home improvement or sign of a nice neighbourhood is slowly being photographed, catalogued and taxed by Gordon Brown's inspectors.
"Families face soaring bills for the crime of living in a nice neighbourhood. Only Labour would think of taxing people for looking out of their windows."
Details about the logging of homes with a view and off-street parking came from answers to Tory parliamentary questions given by Jane Kennedy, John Healey and Phil Woolas, all ministers either at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Treasury or the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Last month, The Sunday Telegraph revealed how ministers had tried to cover up official documents showing that tens of thousands of homes were placed the wrong tax bands, with many again facing the prospect of higher bills after revaluation.
Council tax has been a source of controversy since Labour came to power, with the typical household in a Band D home paying £1,078 in 2007 compared with £564 in 1997.
Research by this newspaper established that, this year, some homes will see their bill rise by up to 11 per cent - despite an announcement by ministers that local authorities would face a 5 per cent "cap" on their demands. However, the cap did not affect police authorities, many of which have imposed bigger rises for their section of the bills to avoid having to lose police jobs.
In parts of Lincolnshire, bills will rise by more than 11 per cent, next week's figures from the DCLG will show. The average bill, however, will increase by less than 4 per cent, say Whitehall insiders.
The Government's preferred measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, stands at 2.5 per cent, although the Retail Price Index is 4.1 per cent.
A DCLG spokesman said: "We have made clear many times there are no plans for a revaluation, and there is no revaluation by stealth. This means no one can be penalised for improving their home, off-street parking or having a scenic view.
"The Valuation Office Agency is simply maintaining an accurate council tax valuation list."