Are you paying more tax than Roman Abramovich?
The top council tax rate in Kensington and Chelsea (Band H for the most expensive houses) is £2,135.80 which is less than the English council tax average for a Band H property (£2,747.90), despite Kensington and Chelsea having some of the richest people in the country living there with some of the most expensive houses.
In Bradford, a house valued at around £200,000 would mean a council tax charge of £1,236.97 a year. Yet, a £120 million house in Kensington (see below) would only have to pay a council tax rate of £1,375.58. I love the 58p. A 5-bedroom house (with swimming pool, cinema and gym) currently up for sale in Knightsbridge for £12 million has a council tax charge of £2,062.30.
There is even self-contained accommodation 'ideal for staff' in it which would presumably not be liable for additional council tax (see http://www.chardsales.co.uk/details.dtx?propertyid=EA82A696-F594-4D87-BFEA-80FB1A20F7F1 )
Houses of £70 million plus are not unknown in this part of London. One has recently been sold for over £110 -£120 million. It's between Downing Street and Buckingham Palace which is the Borough of Westminster where the top rate of council tax is a piddly £1,375.58. The cheapest slum in Bradford costs £824 a year in council tax.
This £65,000 house in Bradford: http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?0&pid=812847&agentid=12082 in one of the poorest areas of Bradford costs £824 a year in council tax (or 1.26% of the value of the property at today's values per year).
Put another way, if the people living in the £12 million house had to pay the same percentage of tax (1.26%) as the person in Bradford in the slum, they would be paying £151,200 council tax a year (instead of £2,062). The person in the £120 million house would be paying around £1.5 million a year in council tax (instead of £1,375 and 58 pence).
Or to put it another way, my household in Bradford pays more council tax than Roman Abramovich.
© Andrew Hawkins 2008
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