‘Unfair’ council tax rates must change, campaigner says

Council tax reform “is on its way” – despite the main parties’ reluctance to talk about it during the election, a campaigner has said. Labor and the Conservatives have been reluctant to tackle council tax reform in the run-up to the July 4 election.

But Andrew Dixon, who is campaigning for council tax reform, says the need to tackle local authority finances means it will need to be considered. He adds that a poll of 4,000 people carried out by JL Partners for its Fairer Share campaign group reveals widespread support for replacing council tax and stamp duty with a proportional land tax (PPT) which would be levied on current property values ​​rather than 1991 levels.

It claims such a move could lead to lower bills in 77 per cent of the country, with the average household likely to earn £556 a year. He said: “The bottom line for me is that the Labor Party is very dependent on growth. They must show growth. Without growth, they will not generate tax revenue.

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“They’re going to have to find growth somewhere. And I have no doubt that reform of this nature would lead to growth in various parts of the country outside of London and the South East. Because you’re going to see households having slightly higher disposable income which would then be spent on the high street. A pro-growth program must be pursued and I see the reform of the council tax as part of the solution.”

He added that while there is little enthusiasm to talk about it in the run-up to the election, it is likely that this topic will be an issue after July 5. He said: “The Labor Party has what’s called a Ming vase strategy – don’t let the Ming vase fall. And this is why I think that the housing tax is not part of their thinking.

“However, on the other side of the election, depending on what kind of mandate they have, I’m almost certain they will have to look at local government finances.”