90% of Brits resent council tax
By politics.co.uk staff
Nearly 90 per cent of Britons are unhappy with the services they receive in exchange for the council tax, a new survey revealed today.
The poll of 4,800 homeowners and private tenants throws a damning light on local government, with a third of people describing their local council as ‘out of touch’.
Eighty-six per cent of people oppose a revaluation of council tax bands.
Only seven per cent of respondents to the survey, by propertyfinder.com, expressed satisfaction with their local council and said they did not mind paying the tax.
“The average council tax has risen 74 per cent over the past ten years, while inflation has risen just under 20 per cent, but for many, services haven’t improved,” said Charles Wasdell, head of research at propertyfinder.com.
“Despite massive rises in council tax, people overwhelmingly feel they get poorer value for money from their local council.”
When asked to describe their local council, most people chose ‘out of touch’, but this option was closely followed by ‘slow’, ‘wasteful’, ‘autocratic’ and ‘careless’.
Council tax for 2009 – 2010 is expected to rise by an average of around three per cent.
