Bedford Council Tax bills to rocket after election, warn Liberal Democrats

11.27.43am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 1st Apr 2005

Council Tax payers in Bedford & Kempston face a post-election tax bombshell if Labour or the Tories form the next government, Liberal Democrats warned today.

Michael Headley and local Lib Dems campaign to Axe the Council Tax

Many Council Tax bills will rise by £200 or more because house prices have risen so fast in the area. 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.

Property prices TOMORROW will be the basis for Council Tax bills for the next 10 years.

Anyone whose home has gone up more than the national average since 1991 is at risk of being moved into a higher tax band. That means bills will rise by up to 22%.

Bedford & Kempston will be hard hit because house prices have gone up 189%, according to the latest research from the Halifax House Price Index. Homes could move up two, three or even more bands.

In Wales, where revaluation has already happened, some families will see their council tax bill TREBLE. That could be repeated here.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner Michael Headley said:

"Council Tax is unfair, and revaluation is going to make it worse. Just because house prices have risen here, many local people will have to struggle to find hundreds of pounds extra in Council Tax. It will be particularly unfair in Bedford & Kempston because wages are below the national average."

"Both the other parties try and deny it, but they simply have no solutions to the ticking time-bomb of spiralling Council Tax bills. The biggest post-election tax rises would come from the Labour and Tory-backed plans for rebanding."

"The whole Council Tax system is failing, and it is time to scrap it. Liberal Democrat plans to replace it with a fair system based on ability to pay would cut the typical family's bill by around £450 a year."