NORTHERN ‘Red Wall’ seats are being walloped by the highest council tax rates in the country, new research reveals.
Boris Johnson risks seeing his levelling-up agenda flop unless he reforms the “loopy and lopsided” tax, campaigners have warned.
Brits living in battleground seats – including newly Tory Burnley, Blackpool South and Redcar – pay the most as a proportion of their house value.
Meanwhile, people living in London’s swankiest areas – including Kensington and Putney – fork out the least.
A millionaire living in a £1.2million house in Westminster pays less than someone living in an £88,000 home in Easington in North Durham, the study found.
All ten areas with the highest council tax bills are either currently, or have until recently, been run by Labour.
‘UNFAIR TAX SYSTEM’
They are all set to hike council tax yet again this year, apart from Burnley, which Labour lost control of in 2019.
Andrew Dixon, chairman of Fairer Share, said levelling-up will remain “a pipe dream” as long as the unfair levy remains.
He said: “These figures are a shocking exposé of the unfairness of our current property tax system.
“The Prime Minister has said he is committed to levelling-up the country, but this agenda is clearly being undermined by loopy and lopsided council tax rates.
