Rooms with a view will cost more

Anne Main St Albans' MP has criticised the plans by John Prescott to increase council taxes on homes with scenic views, patios, greenhouses, large garages and conservatories.

Anne Main St Albans' MP has criticised the plans by John Prescott to increase council taxes on homes with scenic views, patios, greenhouses, large garages and conservatories. The proposals were revealed in internal Whitehall documents on the forthcoming council tax revaluation in England.

The Government has so far spent £60 million on revaluation, of which an estimated £45 million has paid for a new American computer system - so-called 'Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal'. Conservatives have used Parliamentary Questions to obtain the technical IT documents. They reveal that the Government is using it to collect a whole new range of 'value' indicators on individual homes. This in turn will allow the Government to impose higher council tax on properties with those indicators.

The new 'dwelling house codes' and 'value significance codes' being collected include:
• Number of bedrooms.
• If located near a golf course, a conservation area; or with a view of a sea, hills or lake.
• Conservatory type and size, including greenhouses and UPVC/hardwood conservatories.
• Number of garage spaces and car parking spaces.
• Large patios or gardens.

Anne explained,

"Under this Government, council taxes across St Albans have already soared by 96 per cent - taking a typical bill to £ 1,242 a year. I am concerned that Council taxes will rise even higher if these proposals for identifying 'value significance codes' go ahead. In St Albans many of our young people and families purchase as their first homes the characterful cottages and villas that typify our conservation area. These people will be hit the hardest by this ridiculous proposal which has an echo of the ancient 'windows tax', rather than a fair charge for the use of local services. "