The Budget Shake-Up Council Tax Desperately Needs
When we talk about the cost-of-living crisis in the UK, council tax has quietly become one of the biggest pressure points — and it’s hitting people who already have the least the hardest. Lately, the conversation has intensified because campaigners, debt organisations, and even well-known money experts are urging the government to act decisively in the upcoming budget. And when you start looking at the reality on the ground, it becomes clear why.
Take Viv, for example — a childminder in Manchester who found herself unable to keep up with rising bills. The moment she fell behind on her council tax, things escalated brutally fast. Within weeks she was charged for the entire year, and not long after that, bailiffs were at her door. She was told they could take her car, her TV, even her kids’ toys. At one point she was told prison was a possibility. And unfortunately, Viv’s story isn’t rare; it’s become alarmingly common.
Also Read:Research shows that more than 4 million people across the UK are now in council tax debt. Councils, trying to make up huge funding gaps, have referred cases to bailiffs 1.7 million times in the past year alone. Yet despite this aggressive enforcement, the total arrears have ballooned past £6 billion. The system is clearly failing — not only the households struggling to pay but the councils trying to collect.
A big part of the problem is that council tax is deeply regressive. Lower-income households are paying three times more of their income on council tax than wealthier households. Regional inequality is baked into it too: a modest terraced home in Hartlepool can face a higher bill than a luxury flat in London. And as bills keep rising — up more than 50% in a decade — people already on the financial edge are pushed straight into a cycle of debt, stress, and sometimes homelessness.
Campaigners say the enforcement system itself is outdated and harmful. Being chased by private bailiffs, who add heavy fees and cause immense distress, is seen as an unnecessarily punitive approach for people who already can’t afford the basics. Many are calling for a full ban on bailiffs and a new “duty of care” that would require councils to offer support instead of punishment, including writing off debts that are impossible to repay.
But the biggest proposed change is a switch to a proportional property tax — a simple flat rate based on a home’s value. Early modelling suggests most households would pay less, arrears would likely fall, and the tax burden would be fairer across the country. For many, this is the bold reform the system has needed for decades.
With public support growing and political pressure building, the chancellor now faces a pivotal choice: patch up a broken system or replace it with something fairer and more humane. Millions of households, like Viv’s, are hoping this is the moment real change finally arrives.
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