Opinion by Mathew Carr (someone edited the first version of this story without my permission)

March 8-12, 2024 — British local-government councils appear to be missing a trick when trying to get more money for crucial social programs that would:

–boost mental health;

–help women and mothers to cope, and;

–deal with the low-cost housing crisis (there are not enough affordable homes).

As is often the case with all forms of government, it’s what they are not doing rather than what they are doing that’s crucial.

Property values have been surging for decades, yet councils are not shifting households into higher brackets that would attract higher “council tax”. This tax is based on the value of a property.

Tower Hamlets for example, one of the least-wealthy areas of the the country, have these bands:

Source: Tower Hamlets website

An analysis of property prices shows that you would struggle to get ANY property in Tower Hamlets (East London) for below £320,000 (even though it’s relatively poor).

So these bands are wildly out of date.

I was shocked to learn the Westminster council bands seem even easier on the rich -- 46% less!-- even though it's a much richer area

Source: Westminster council website

Westminster houses the nation’s parliament house so politicians probably won’t prioritize tax reform that hurts their own financial interest — the policy profession seems to attract many selfish, cowardly people.

Updating the bands to realistic, 2024 values would probably triple the Tower Hamlets council’s take for instance…or even more in Westminster, and they could be adjusted so those in the most valuable properties pay much more.

I know that Band D properties in the Tower Hamlets chart above should be in band H.

Yet councils could create bands I J K L M N P…etc. Why don’t they?

Why…indeed… since it’s an easyish win?

Westminster (yellow dashes) v Tower Hamlets (red): Source Google Maps

Councillors don’t want to be blamed for stoking the cost-of-living crisis, I guess. It’s much easier to blame the national government for all of society’s ills, I guess. And if you are a conservative, there may be little political mileage in attacking wealthy property owners financially, since they are one of your main groups of voters.

I spent some time last week listening to some of Britain’s poorest trying to get housing / mental health help, and it’s not pretty.

The front-line staff at the Tower Hamlets counter in the new local government headquarters in Whitechapel are unsung heros as they try to deal with people being forced to sleep on the streets because of societal unfairness or those suffering drug addiction.

The issue — the financial/political interaction between local and national governments — was making front-page-lead news last week in the Financial Times.

Councils need to stop being so cowardly and do their part in narrowing the wealth gap. Wealthy people may moan. And the middle classes too. But they have had it too good for too long as the world seeks to end poverty by 2030, according to sustainable development goals.

This is also a global phenomenon. In France, for instance, property prices surged outside Paris as working from home took off during the pandemic. Inequality is even worse among much of the emerging world.

It’s probably not wise to change tax levels too quickly, local or national.

Councils could install an automatic system to deal with the impact on tax as property prices change, taking some of the political heat out of each tax decision.

What do you think? Email Mathew@carrzee.net

International women’s day

(Earlier version misspelled Westminster, edits were made by a hacker/Wordpress/Google)