Council tax

GreatAuk said:
I had this last year - feels a bit unfair when the number of bedrooms etc hasn't even changed. Last sold price feels like a very crude way of deciding how much is due from each house. Was tempted to appeal at the time but didn't see the point as it sounds like they literally just scale the price back to 1990 pounds or whatever and see where it fits in the scale.
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i have appealed mine but I did have good grounds to do so. For example; the number of bedrooms hasn’t changed in my house, they just became bigger bedrooms. I actually spent a lot of time getting housing sale prices from my area all the way back to 1994 (as far as I could find), comparing with current sales and then throwing as much statistical math in there that I could. They’ve acknowledged the appeal, it if it’s rejected I cannot go any further.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
You mean insurance? No idea how much it is but most folk who are in decent jobs get it as part of their package. Others need to pay for it.

I don't like America but stuff is generally a lot cheaper over there so the savings should be able to pay for insurance you would have thought.

Property is expensive though especially in major cities.
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Cost of living (certainly here in California ... not even in the expensive part) is very high here. Basic things like supermarket shops, childcare etc. is a lot higher than the UK - we are around $200/week groceries for a family of 3 and daycare runs at around $2000/month. Effectively you want a CA salary and UK living costs!

Most jobs now will only subsidise health insurance, not pay outright (even then, you have deductibles / copays to make). I actually work at a health insurance company, our subsidised insurance still costs $1000/month ... (which again is related to the CA market, each state has its own healthcare market).
 
Dave said:
Cost of living (certainly here in California ... not even in the expensive part) is very high here. Basic things like supermarket shops, childcare etc. is a lot higher than the UK - we are around $200/week groceries for a family of 3 and daycare runs at around $2000/month. Effectively you want a CA salary and UK living costs!

Most jobs now will only subsidise health insurance, not pay outright (even then, you have deductibles / copays to make). I actually work at a health insurance company, our subsidised insurance still costs $1000/month ... (which again is related to the CA market, each state has its own healthcare market).
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With those sort of figures every month, what on earth are you earning!?
 
Has anyone had any luck in reducing their band?

I'm band F, but I think this was because the house was bespoke & also reasonably new at the time the banding was done so the valuation might have been on the high side & probably included the 'shiny new tax''. Everything about it, & comparing it to all recent sales locally, makes me think it should be band E.
 
Tom_ed1987 said:
Has anyone had any luck in reducing their band?

I'm band F, but I think this was because the house was bespoke & also reasonably new at the time the banding was done so the valuation might have been on the high side & probably included the 'shiny new tax''. Everything about it, & comparing it to all recent sales locally, makes me think it should be band E.
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You can ask for your band to be reviewed by the Valuation Office Agency. If they don't agree to change your band there is a formal challenge process but if this is the house you bought a year or so ago you're too late for that.
 
Dave said:
Cost of living (certainly here in California ... not even in the expensive part) is very high here. Basic things like supermarket shops, childcare etc. is a lot higher than the UK - we are around $200/week groceries for a family of 3 and daycare runs at around $2000/month. Effectively you want a CA salary and UK living costs!

Most jobs now will only subsidise health insurance, not pay outright (even then, you have deductibles / copays to make). I actually work at a health insurance company, our subsidised insurance still costs $1000/month ... (which again is related to the CA market, each state has its own healthcare market).
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Food cost looks high but, mine is very low as i walk around lidl and see what is reduced or on offer etc.

So basically as i have no kids, and wont bother getting insurance, the US is still cheap then?
 
dirtychinchilla said:
New build unfortunately. I found a couple of neighbours and they're registering as E/F, but I think one of those houses is larger than ours - the F. But the E I believe is a 2 bed, so it looks like our council tax has just gone up £500 a year!!
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Every single house in our development is rated F, from 2-bed terraced to 5-bed detached, because the existing road neighbouring the site of the estate are all bloody mansions, so they based it off them, grrrr
 
krooton said:
Every single house in our development is rated F, from 2-bed terraced to 5-bed detached, because the existing road neighbouring the site of the estate are all bloody mansions, so they based it off them, grrrr
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There's absolutely nothing way I'd buy a 2 bed terrace at band F if it was also same band as a 5 bed. You'd need to sell it to someone who didn't notice or check the CT
 
Surveyor said:
For England and Wales you can also check this on the government website I linked earlier. If an "Improvement indicator" is shown then there's a potential increase to the band when the property is sold.
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I always thought this was pretty well known. My folks had an extension done about 20 years ago - converting from 3 bed to 4. As they still live there they're paying the same council tax band as they did when they first purchased the house.

Dave said:
Cost of living (certainly here in California ... not even in the expensive part) is very high here. Basic things like supermarket shops, childcare etc. is a lot higher than the UK - we are around $200/week groceries for a family of 3 and daycare runs at around $2000/month. Effectively you want a CA salary and UK living costs!

Most jobs now will only subsidise health insurance, not pay outright (even then, you have deductibles / copays to make). I actually work at a health insurance company, our subsidised insurance still costs $1000/month ... (which again is related to the CA market, each state has its own healthcare market).
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That's getting a bit extortionate. You can fully understand why a lot of tech companies are starting to jump ship from CA. A lot of them had based their HQ there, and having potentially thousands of people located there, the wage bill would be very expensive compared to if the HQ was located in other states.

I do wonder there has to be a turning point when more wealthy companies leave, and the state realise that they can't keep charging mega bucks for taxes and such.
 
Semple said:
That's getting a bit extortionate. You can fully understand why a lot of tech companies are starting to jump ship from CA. A lot of them had based their HQ there, and having potentially thousands of people located there, the wage bill would be very expensive compared to if the HQ was located in other states.
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Wages are high but talent is plentiful. Saving a buck in your R&D on the wage bill isn't a priority, really. This is what a lot of people don't get about London. It is a talent hot spot, but it is also Silicon Valley and Manhattan rolled into one. What is a 7hr flight in the US is a quick tube ride from Canary Wharf to Old Street.
 
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Dirk Diggler said:
Strange, our council tax payment has increased this year (South Lanarkshire).
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Water charges are included in council tax payment in Scotland. It's why a lot of ignorant people say it's free water in Scotland. It's not it's simply collected alongside council tax.

So council tax never increased your water charges did.
 
Dave said:
Cost of living (certainly here in California ... not even in the expensive part) is very high here. Basic things like supermarket shops, childcare etc. is a lot higher than the UK - we are around $200/week groceries for a family of 3 and daycare runs at around $2000/month. Effectively you want a CA salary and UK living costs!

Most jobs now will only subsidise health insurance, not pay outright (even then, you have deductibles / copays to make). I actually work at a health insurance company, our subsidised insurance still costs $1000/month ... (which again is related to the CA market, each state has its own healthcare market).
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California is an expensive state. I was there in 2019 and it's also got a major homeless crisis as a result of how expensive the place is.

Joe Rogan just moved from there saying that the state was a joke.

Move to Texas and your costs will substantially reduce. Unfortunately not an option if your job is in California but I believe there is somewhere north of California you could relocate to with increased commute times but much lower prices.

I did say in another post New York and LA are overpriced to oblivion. There are places which are the exact opposite and in-between.

Your post would be akin to someone saying London is expensive in the UK. You happen to live in one of the most expensive places to live in the US. So I'm not surprised it isn't cheap.
 
MrKnifey said:
With those sort of figures every month, what on earth are you earning!?
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Well considering California has passed legislation to raise min wage to $15/h by 2023 (around $35k per year), probably more than you think. For example, the average wage for just a school teacher in CA is $83k.
 
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