Household finances will not suffer due to council tax rise

A number of recent living cost rises have seriously affected household finances in the UK at a time when many are already trying to cope with the effects of higher mortgage repayments.

There have been a number of rises over recent weeks, including energy bills, water bills, and food costs. Other recent hikes include the cost of petrol.

However, although council tax in the UK has also gone up recently the government has announced that the rise is at its lowest level for fourteen years, with the average council tax bill going up by 4%. This means that the average household will see their annual council tax bills rise from £1101 a year to £1146.

In the 2003/2004 year council tax bills went up by a massive 12.9%, but the rises since then have been lower, and this one is the lowest in nearly fifteen years. The government asked councils to keep the council tax rise below 5% and most councils managed to accommodate this request, leaving consumers with a little more breathing space in terms of their household finances.

However, on official said that this could result in difficulties for councils when it came to meeting budgets, stating: “Councils have been under a real financial squeeze during the annual struggle to keep bills down. The stark reality is that low council tax rises have come at a cost and many councils have had to make tough decisions on spending.”