Cllr Michael Dickinson: Alarm sounds at Lib-Lab plans to tax Swindon’s homes with new house price tax

Cllr Michael Dickinson, has voiced his concern at joint moves by Labour’s Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrats’ Menzies Campbell to hit Swindon with a new house price tax.

·            New house price tax say LibDems: Liberal Democrats have recently endorsed new tax plans, backing a controversial new house price tax. It calls for taxing “unearned economic rent” to “stabilise the property market” by introducing the “satisfactory” Danish model of a “national 1 per cent property tax”. This would be on top of plans for a new local income tax of up to 5 per cent on both basic and higher rates of income tax.

·            House tax backed by Labour: This house price tax already being introduced in the UK by Labour Ministers. From April 2007, Northern Ireland residents will hit with a house price tax of 0.63 per cent of their home’s value every year (local taxes in the Province are lower than in mainland Britain). Gordon Brown’s review of town hall finances is actively considering how to implement such a scheme across Britain. The Government has sheepishly admitted that middle classes will pay more under such a tax.

·            Swindon would be hit hard: Under a 1 per cent house price tax, the average property in Swindon would now pay a local tax bill of £1,562  a year.

Michael commented, “I am concerned that both Gordon Brown and Menzies Campbell are actively planning to introduce a house price tax – and cynically tap into the rise in property values in recent years.

“Families and pensioners who have saved and improved their homes face the threat of soaring tax bills, without any improvements in their local services. Just because house prices have risen doesn’t mean that local residents can afford even higher local taxes.

“Law-abiding, decent people are already struggling to meet the rising cost of mortgages, utility bills and local taxes. I doubt that these Lib-Lab plans for weighty tax bills will be welcome on Swindon’s doorsteps.”