Broadstairs and Ramsgate face council tax shock

7.55.55am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 7th Apr 2005

Broadstairs and Ramsgate are both in line for massive council tax rises because of the threat of revaluation, new Liberal Democrat research has shown.

Council tax is currently based on property values in April 1991 but the Government is updating its valuation figures to take account of changes in property prices since then.

Families in Broadstairs and Ramsgate will be badly hit, because house prices have risen faster than in the rest of the country. The changes will be deeply unfair on the area, as earnings are well below the national average and house prices are inflated by demand caused by rising house prices elsewhere in Kent and the South East.

Analysis of the Halifax house price index by the Liberal Democrats shows that local prices have risen faster than the national average, meaning homes are likely to be moved into higher paying tax bands.

Guy Voizey, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for South Thanet, said:

"Local people are already struggling because house prices have risen out of reach for first time buyers. Now the Government is about to make it worse.

"The Government claims Council Tax revaluation will make the system fairer. But this research shows it will be arbitrary, random and unfair, with low earners forced to pay even more.

"The people of Thanet are about to be penalised for the market forces that have pushed up house prices in the region.

"Revaluation is a typical Labour stealth tax. Millions of families will see their Council Tax bills rocket once the election is over, but ministers have refused to come clean about it."