The irrationality of Britain’s council tax system has been laid bare in a new league table drawn up by estate agency Coulters Property.
The agency’s research looks at Band D tax payments in different areas; the gap between top and bottom is as much as £1,300 and it is by no means the case that so-called better off areas have the highest tax bills.
Rutland, the UK’s smallest county and home to just 40,000 people, pays the highest overall, at £2,125 for a band D property, which is £307 or 17 per cent more than the national average of £1,818.
The cheapest area is prime central London’s Westminster district.
Quirks in the council tax system and calculations based on the value of homes dating back to April 1 1991 - that’s almost 30 years ago - make the tax bills differ wildly.
The locations with the highest Band D payment are:
1 Rutland (East Midlands) £2,125;
2 Dorset (South West) £2,119;
3 Nottingham (East Midlands) £2,119;
4 Lewes (South East) £2,111;
5 Newark & Sherwood (East Midlands) £2,100;
6 Hartlepool (North East) £2,092;
7 Wealden (South East) £2,091;
8 Durham (North East) £2,071;
9 West Devon (South West) £2,067;
10 Oxford (South East) £2,064.
And the locations with the cheapest Band D charges are:
1 Westminster (London) £782;
2 Wandsworth (London) £800;
3 City of London (London) £1,007;
4 Hammersmith & Fulham (London) £1,124;
5 Na h-Eileanan Siar (Scotland) £1,193;
6 South Lanarkshire (Scotland) £1,203;
7 Shetland Islands (Scotland) £1,206;
8 Angus (Scotland) £1,207;
9 Orkney Islands (Scotland) £1,208;
10 North Lanarkshire (Scotland) £1,221.
You can check the full list here.
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