Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, said: “Sir Keir Starmer is using his ‘blueprint’ Labour government in Wales to road test his plans to hike up council taxes on people’s homes.
“Straight from the same old Labour playbook, these Big Brother tactics will punish families with higher bills simply for having good schools or lower crime.”
He added that while the Conservatives will keep council tax down, a Labour government will “take us back to square one with higher borrowing and higher taxes”.
The Valuation Office is also looking at how good the transport links, crime rates and schools are in any one area, to feed into its model on council tax revaluation.
In addition to information from the Land Registry – which records the prices that houses are bought and sold for – the valuation model will include “plot size”. using data from the Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database.
The detailed information about how the Welsh Government will carry out its revaluation of council tax emerged in answers to parliamentary questions, tabled by Paul Howell, the Tory MP.
A revaluation of council tax bands across England, which would involve valuing every home in the country, could prove hugely controversial.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
