Home Information Pack database laying ground for ‘backdoor’ council tax revaluation.
Ahead of the imposition of Home Information Packs on 1 August, an investigation by Conservatives today warns that the information collected by the new army of home inspectors is likely to be used to hike up council tax bills in a ‘backdoor’ council tax revaluation. In effect, home owners will be forced to pay for the privilege of the State inspectors entering their home – to help the taxman record, log and tax it.
This latest development follows a series of secret deals being struck by the council tax inspectors to grab information about people's homes. The Valuation Office Agency has already gained access to Britain's largest estate agent database, Rightmove, as well as the Land Registry, Britain's property deeds database, to gather information on homes ahead of the council tax revaluation in England.
- Unnecessary Home Information Pack database: The small print of Government documents has revealed that Ministers are now moving ahead with a database of Home Information Packs; this will hold every detail of (currently voluntary) Home Condition Reports and the new (compulsory) Energy Performance Certificates. The latter are required by an EU directive, but the EU rules in no way require this. The Government has said the unnecessary database will “facilitate analysis of data”.
- State-sponsored snoopers gathering details of every home: The information collected via the Energy Performance Certificates includes the year of construction, the type of dwelling, total floor area, number of stories, central heating, window glazing and building materials. These are precisely the same property attributes which the council tax inspectors, are currently collecting for their own new ‘Big Brother’ council tax database. These property attributes were revealed in March when Conservatives forced the publication of the council tax inspectors’ revaluation handbook.
- 10 million homes in two years: Energy Performance Certificates next year will be introduced for all rented properties, widening the information net. The HIPs database will hold the information on every Pack for 15 to 20 years. This suggests that 10 million homes will be on the database by 2009 and 20 million by 2014. The Valuation Office Agency has made an explicit bid to have access to the new HIPs database; Ministers this week refused outright to publish this bid on ground it was “provided in confidence”. The Housing Act 2004 allows Ministers to use the database “for any public purpose”, meaning granting access to the Agency in due course will be a mere formality.
- You pay for the inspections: The cost of the HIPs database will be funded from home owners, via a levy on Home Information Packs. This is estimated to raise £16 million in fees between now and 2010. In effect, home owners and tenants will be paying for state-sponsored inspectors to enter their home, and in turn, have the information be used to hike their council tax bills. It also raises the prospect that home owners without double glazing or solar panels could be explicitly penalised with higher council tax bills.
Eric Pickles, Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government & Communities, said:
“Labour’s plans for Home Information Packs are nothing less than a home information tax. This isn’t about making it easier to get onto the housing ladder; it’s just a stealthy way of conducting Labour’s controversial council tax revaluation by the backdoor. You’ll have to pay the State to inspect your home - and help taxman hike your council tax bill.
“It is increasingly clear that a council tax revaluation is already underway by stealth, with Big Brother databases starting to log the precise details of every home – including the number of bedrooms, conservatories, floor area and central heating. In turn, this will allow Gordon Brown to hike council taxes on hard-working families and pensioners who have invested and improved their homes.
“Labour Ministers keep changing their tune on why Home Information Packs are supposedly needed – first to tackle gazumping, now to enforce EU directives. Yet the real driving force is their desire to create a massive property database of every home. Given Gordon Brown’s track record, there is no doubt he’ll use it to fill his coffers and hike up property taxes even more.”