70,000 homeowners stung by council tax 'stealth rise'

The party claims that those who bought homes that had been improved by the previous occupants have seen their bills rise by an average of £195 a year.

Council tax 'snoopers' have placed the properties in a higher band because of changes such as new conservatories, porches, extra bedrooms and parking spaces.

Inspectors from the Government's Valuation Office Agency have moved 70,010 homes into a higher band since 1997 when Labour came to power.

Elastic band: Many houses sold with home improvements in the last decade have seen increases in their council tax

Statistics published by the Department for Communities and Local Government showed that nearly 391,000 properties had been revalued in the past decade.

Of these, about one in five were moved to a higher band after being studied by officials - forcing residents to pay out more.

Ministers insist that a council tax revaluation has been put off at least until after the next general election.

They fear millions would rebel if their bills increased because they were moved into higher bands.

But last night, the LibDems, who uncovered the figures, accused them of carrying out the exercise by stealth.

Local government spokesman Julia Goldsworthy said: 'With almost 400,000 homes being revalued, Labour's lie of putting off council tax revaluation is clearly exposed. Tens of thousands of families are being hit in the pocket.

'It's time that the Government came clean and either admitted that this stealth revaluation is taking place or recognised that council tax is not fit for purpose.

'Until they ditch this unfair and unpopular tax, families will continue to face unaffordable council tax bills based not on ability to pay but simply on the value of their home.'

Under regulations introduced in 1993, the VOA logs every structural improvement that takes place to a property. If the home is then sold, the agency is notified and can decide to carry out an inspection to determine whether it should be in a new council tax band.

According to the LibDems, the average council tax bill is £1,146 and the average difference between bands is 17 per cent. It means that under revaluation the average bill would rise to £1,341 - up £195.

At present, council tax bills are based on assessments of properties made in 1991.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: 'An increase in the value of a property would not lead to an increase in a council tax banding until the property is sold, and maybe not even then, as the value may stay within the range of the existing band.

'As we have said on many occasions, there is no revaluation of council tax taking place. Any claim to the contrary is absolute nonsense, nothing more than scaremongering, and only serves to make people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, needlessly frightened.'

Last week,official figures showed that VOA inspectors have already stored digital images of 1.6million properties and are collecting details of millions more.

They are logging the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and conservatories as well as noting down details of attics, porches and outbuildings.

Critics claimed it was evidence that every homeowner was facing an invasion of privacy as the Government carried out the revaluation in secret.

A 'training manual' for VOA inspectors says they must carry a 20-metre tape measure or laser measuring device, camera, clipboard, survey sheets, pens and pencils, eraser - and a personal alarm.