Dear Resident Association Chair,
I am writing to you regarding a new tax proposed by the Government which we estimate could affect over 50% of homes in the borough.This is not something a Council Leader would usually do, but I am breaking convention because the Government has chosen to call this a “Council Tax Surcharge.” This is not an accurate description. While the Government proposes that the tax is collected by councils, we will not retain any of it to fund local services. It is a tax to fund wider welfare spending and the growth of the state, money that will be spent on programmes and priorities decided elsewhere.
I believe residents deserve to hear that directly from us, not learn it after the fact. Under the Government’s High Value Council Tax Surcharge, properties over £2 million in value would pay a yearly tax, levied on the value of their property. This tax would be on a sliding scale rising to a maximum of £7,500 a year. More details of the proposals can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/high-value-council-tax-surcharge/high-value-council-tax-surcharge#supporting-those-with-limited-ability-to-pay
I wanted to be clear that this Council opposes the Government’s proposal for this new tax in the strongest possible terms. A home is the centre of family life, not an untapped tax stream. I have written to the Government asking them to reconsider their proposal.
We estimate that over 50% of properties in the borough could be in scope for this additional tax and under current proposals almost every impacted household would have to pay the tax in full every year.
Only those earning less than £35,000 or with less than £16,000 in savings would be able to defer payments. Indeed, so low is the deferral limit that someone on £35,000 a year with £16,000 in savings would qualify for social housing under our allocations scheme. I am genuinely concerned that residents of this borough will be forced to sell their home, just to meet this new tax bill.
This new tax would impact tens of thousands of households in the borough, and I would encourage you and your members to look at the Government’s proposals and if you are concerned make your views clear either by writing to the Government ([email protected].) or your local Member of Parliament.
The Dame says….
This Labour government isn’t just incompetent — it’s dishonest, and Cllr Campbell is right to call it out.
House price inflation has wreaked havoc with people’s finances — not by destroying their wealth, but by taxing a gain they never asked for and can’t spend. Governments are responsible for that inflation, just as they’re responsible for the reckless spending now spiralling out of control: £408 billion in benefits by 2030 — 12% of GDP. Strip out the State Pension and the number is still obscene.
So what’s Labour’s answer? Raid the homes of residents whose only “crime” is that their house rose in value on paper while their bank balance stayed exactly the same. Call it a “Council Tax Surcharge” to make it sound local, sound fair, sound like it’s going back into your street. It isn’t. Not one penny reaches the councils. This is a Treasury smash-and-grab wearing a council disguise — and calling it anything else is a lie, plain and simple.
And Joe Powell? The constituency MP whose job is to stand between his residents and exactly this kind of raid? Nowhere to be seen. Not a statement. Not a tweet. Not a whisper. Either he doesn’t understand what’s being done to the people who elected him, or he understands perfectly well and has decided their pockets are an acceptable price for staying on-message with his party. Neither is good enough. Residents deserve an MP who fights for them — not one who goes quiet the moment his own government is the problem.
This country is broken beyond repair…why would any sane person live in a lawless country governed by corrupt and greedy fools.
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