2024-25 Council Tax.

[JohnfromUK]

£2598 payable after 25% single occupancy discount (£3464 gross).  Also included (as @armsid post) - £378 which seems to be an 'extra' to fund 'adult social care'.

[TOPGUN749]

15 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

£2598 payable after 25% single occupancy discount (£3464 gross).  Also included (as @armsid post) - £378 which seems to be an 'extra' to fund 'adult social care'.

£50 a week! Terrible lot for one person, sounds like a biggish property though,possibly band F? Think it would cost more in Wales,though houses are worth less!

[JohnfromUK]

Just now, TOPGUN749 said:

£50 a week! Terrible lot for one person, sounds like a biggish property though,possibly band F? Think it would cost more in Wales,though houses are worth less!

It is in Band G - large for a nominally 4 bedroom - in a big garden with garage and plenty of parking. 

Our area is all 'high price' as we are on the edge of the Cotswolds.  Annoyingly, we (well I anyway) get very little for it.  We have no public transport (used to have daily buses and two rail stations within 2 miles), no street lighting (used to be there, but taken out), no pavements, bins emptied once a fortnight, never see a policeman (used to be two 24 hour manned police stations within 2 miles), most of the roadside drains are blocked, road signs are falling down,  road works signs from weeks and months ago lying at the side of the road rusting........... in fact the only increases have been the potholes, vast amounts of salt spread everywhere when there is no chance of  a frost (I'm sure they get backhanders from the motor trade!) and the council tax bills.

I have lived here (in this immediate area) for all my life and the state of the roads, grass verges (grass dying from salt and a sea of mud), ditches, drains, street furnishings and signs is the worst it has ever been.  I have old photos where the verges were mown around monthly, the ditches were clean, no brambles, signs clear of greenery - and all looking neat and tidy.  Villagers used to plant flower beds in an island - but now nothing will grow as the soil is salt contaminated.  Local farmers used to do some maintenance of the ditches when they had a wet spell and couldn't get on the ground to farm, but I'm told now they have to apply for permission weeks in advance and have a risk assessment for possible road closures etc ......... so they don't bother.  It's all been made too hard.

[39TDS]

Same here apart from the salt. I doubt anyone in this lane can remember when the last gritter came past.

Not fussed at all about no street lights, I don't see the need. There are some new ones about a mile away and can't think for the life of me what purpose they serve. They were fitted outside a local attraction but it is never open when it is dark.

[Zoli 12 guage]

On 15/03/2024 at 15:47, Zoli 12 guage said:

explain to me why some council CEO's are on more than the prime minister and why it's only liebour councils that have gone mammaries up🤔

not got this years demand yet (band D) but last years was 2.5k and we've also got a "town" council that's included in the aforementioned rogering.

still not got my "rogering" demand yet, neither have my neighbours apparently.

hope I get a kiss beforehand this year though🤔

[JohnfromUK]

21 minutes ago, 39TDS said:

Same here apart from the salt. I doubt anyone in this lane can remember when the last gritter came past.

Not fussed at all about no street lights, I don't see the need. There are some new ones about a mile away and can't think for the life of me what purpose they serve. They were fitted outside a local attraction but it is never open when it is dark.

We never used to get salted - it's a new thing in the last 5 years or so.  We are an unclassified road which is on a 'loop', so no through traffic and all 30 mph limit, so no good reason for it.

I'm not fussed about the street light - in fact I prefer without, but we pay more not less than areas with lighting.

[clangerman]

for sale by band B owner slightly used kidney £1,923,60 no offers! lol 

[Zoli 12 guage]

28 minutes ago, clangerman said:

for sale by band B owner slightly used kidney £1,923,60 no offers! lol 

😁😁😁

[enfieldspares]

Just had my Severn Trent water bill. £560 when ten years ago it was just HALF that.

[JohnfromUK]

22 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

Just had my Severn Trent water bill. £560 when ten years ago it was just HALF that.

Despite my large council tax bill, I pay rather less for water.  About £130 a year (metered water, drainage and surface water drainage supplement as some of my roof gutter water goes into the main drains)

[TOPGUN749]

1 hour ago, enfieldspares said:

Just had my Severn Trent water bill. £560 when ten years ago it was just HALF that.

Seriously consider a water meter! Free fitting I believe and pay a £150 a year standing charge plus £3.40 per 1,000 litres used. That’s our charge anyway,comes to £230 a year altogether instead of about £680 unmetered.

[enfieldspares]

17 minutes ago, TOPGUN749 said:

Seriously consider a water meter! Free fitting I believe and pay a £150 a year standing charge plus £3.40 per 1,000 litres used. That’s our charge anyway,comes to £230 a year altogether instead of about £680 unmetered.

Thank you very much for this input. Can I ask, please, how many baths you have a day or week (for the total household) how many times the washing machine is used for a clothes wash per week? I have a great fear of "the unknown" as I am told once a meter is fitted it can't be taken out. I think I'd pay less, certainly. But some sort of feedback in terms of baths per week and clothes washes per week would be helpful. My house is Council R]Tax Band B as far as I know. Thank you for your anticipated reply. 

[JohnfromUK]

16 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

Thank you very much for this input. Can I ask, please, how many baths you have a day or week (for the total household) how many times the washing machine is used for a clothes wash per week? I have a great fear of "the unknown" as I am told once a meter is fitted it can't be taken out. I think I'd pay less, certainly. But some sort of feedback in terms of baths per week and clothes washes per week would be helpful. My house is Council R]Tax Band B as far as I know. Thank you for your anticipated reply. 

I use roughly 500 litres a week. I know this because the meter was replaced between Christmas and New Year and now reads just over 5,500 litres.

Single occupancy household with dishwasher and washing machine (both quite modern and 'eco'), plus baths/showers.

Edited March 19 by JohnfromUK

[enfieldspares]

55 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

I use roughly 500 litres a week. I know this because the meter was replaced between Christmas and New Year and now reads just over 5,500 litres.

Thank you that is helpful. Yes.

[old man]

1 hour ago, enfieldspares said:

Thank you very much for this input. Can I ask, please, how many baths you have a day or week (for the total household) how many times the washing machine is used for a clothes wash per week? I have a great fear of "the unknown" as I am told once a meter is fitted it can't be taken out. I think I'd pay less, certainly. But some sort of feedback in terms of baths per week and clothes washes per week would be helpful. My house is Council R]Tax Band B as far as I know. Thank you for your anticipated reply. 

IIRC, newly fitted meters are not removed but you can revert back to old payment methods within 12 months?

[enfieldspares]

4 minutes ago, old man said:

IIRC, newly fitted meters are not removed but you can revert back to old payment methods within 12 months?

Thank you so very much. I have checked with my water supplier and, yes, that is the case. I will now look again at this. Thank you. I have used the Severn Trent calculator and it seems I am better off as I am.

https://www.ccw.org.uk/save-money-and-water/water-meter-calculator/

Actual bill £560.00

Total estimated bill £621.12

Edited March 19 by enfieldspares

[old man]

Just now, enfieldspares said:

Thank you so very much. I have checked with my water supplier and, yes, that is the case. I will now look again at this. Thank you.

👍

[enfieldspares]

The standing charges in the calculation alone were £350!! That's before any water usage. 

[JohnfromUK]

This is the breakdown from my bill for this period last year.  Screen shot of the relevant part of the bill.

[TOPGUN749]

25 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

The standing charges in the calculation alone were £350!! That's before any water usage.

2 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

Thank you very much for this input. Can I ask, please, how many baths you have a day or week (for the total household) how many times the washing machine is used for a clothes wash per week? I have a great fear of "the unknown" as I am told once a meter is fitted it can't be taken out. I think I'd pay less, certainly. But some sort of feedback in terms of baths per week and clothes washes per week would be helpful. My house is Council R]Tax Band B as far as I know. Thank you for your anticipated reply. 

I can only say what I use,and different water regions have different prices. My standing charge is £151 a year,and I am living alone using 25 units a year on average which is 25,000 litres.So about 70 litres per day. Each 1000 litres costs £3.40 which includes the cost of sewerage waste,(less if a septic tank is used) Here you have up to 2 years to trial a meter and can change back if you want.But it’s really a no brainer,even with 3 in a house it is about half the unmetered charge.To equal the unmetered charge I would have to use 6 times as much water as I do.

[TOPGUN749]

15 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

This is the breakdown from my bill for this period last year.  Screen shot of the relevant part of the bill.

£65 for 6 months is very cheap! My standing charge alone is more than that.

Mine is £115 for 6 months including standing charge,and I use little water at 70 litres a day.

Edited March 20 by TOPGUN749

[JohnfromUK]

5 minutes ago, TOPGUN749 said:

£65 for 6 months is very cheap! Mine is £115 including standing charge,and I use little water at 70 litres a day.

From the above bill, I used 12 cu m in 186 days, so near enough the same at 65 litres per day.  It's a standard Severn Trent account.

[Vince Green]

On 16/03/2024 at 10:20, amateur said:

It was, but, unfortunately for Labour, it would have wiped out many ghost votes for them.

Not only Labour's ghost votes they lost a large number of real live Labour voters too who simply dropped off the electoral register to avoid paying the tax.

Basically you were paying hundreds of pounds a year for the right to vote. For many the choice was simple. No vote was not that big a deal.

If they did it again they would have to find a better way of locking people in. There lies the problem

Oh and by the way my brother in law has a house in Cyprus. His council tax is £220 A YEAR ! His bins get emptied every two days, there is street lighting and the roads are not bad.

But, and it's a big but, that's all the council does. All the work that is done by Social services over here is done by the church.

No rent free council houses etc

Edited March 20 by Vince Green

[steve_b_wales]

I've just received the 2024-25 Council Tax Demand Notice. It's now £1364:88. This is a increase of £84, which I suppose is not as bad I as expected it to be. Like many councils, there are cutbacks, including refuse collections reduced, and other facilities being cut back/reduced.

[amateur]

Ours went up by 6%.

3% from the Conservative council, but the Khan run GLA put their bit up by 9%.