New build area - council tax query

ohmygoodness13

We have been in a new-build home in a large development for 2 years. Our home is band D Council Tax, which has always been paid no problem. Lately I contacted the council to enquire as to whether we could get bins and dog-waste bins installed throughout the area as there are none at all, and was told that the council don't have control of this area so they are not responsible.

So why am I paying full council tax if the council are not responsible for the area?? :mad:

They said to contact our factor who may be able to do it, but as far as I know the factor just does gardening/landscape maintenance for which we pay just £50 per annum.

I feel it is unfair to pay full council tax when the basic needs of the area are not covered by the council, and was wondering if it would be worth speaking to them about this? It is a complete nightmare speaking to any South Lanarkshire Council staff though, so thought I would come on here to ask what people think... Has anyone been in the same situation?

Thanks!

ohmygoodness13

(Sorry couldn't find forum on Council Tax, search brought me here because of the word "tax"!)

nannytone_2

you are paying council tax for street lighting, rubbish disposal, parks, cemetary's, libraries. street sweeping etc.

there are no rubbish bins where many people live, as they seem confined to town centres/shopping parades.

seems a bit of an over reaction to ask why you pay councilt tax, purely because there are no rubbish bins near your home

ohmygoodness13

Nannytone, I didn't actually say why am I paying council tax - I said why am I paying FULL council tax..

The house developers in the area are responsible for road maintenance as they are still building, likewise all electrical and water works currently handled by the developers, and a factor takes care of landscaping... quite a few things the council tax normally goes towards.

Where I live is a popular spot for dog walkers and we get van loads of them constantly, yet there is nowhere to dispose of the dog mess. I think a few bins in place is a fair request.

ChasingButterflies

Hi,

Once the development is complete are the council going to adopt the roads etc?

If so then it might be worthwhile waiting until that happens before speaking to the council again.

Your only other option that I can see is to speak to the developer along the lines of it would make the area more attractive to buyers if there wasn't so much litter/dog mess around (I am guessing this is the issue) However this would likely mean a (probably quite large) rise in factor fees (in my experience they don't need an excuse!)

I would also bear in mind that just because the bins are there doesn't mean that people will use them...

I don't know which department you spoke to but environmental health might be your best bet re dog mess?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

...and once rubbish bins are installed will the council collect the rubbish that accumulates if they are on unadopted highway?

ChasingButterflies

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

...and once rubbish bins are installed will the council collect the rubbish that accumulates if they are on unadopted highway?

I did wonder about that... I had assumed that the factor would have to organise a contractor to come in and dispose of the waste.

However we live on a road which is private in that we need to cover any repair/maintenance costs however we have street lighting provided by the council. Last winter the bulb went outside our property (I was delighted - genuinely) within a day it had been replaced and was working again!

I think there can be huge variations between individual councils with regards to these things.

Marisco

What's a factor?

ChasingButterflies

Factor is I guess the term used (in Scotland) for the Management company that individual home owners pay when there are shared areas. For example when we lived in a block of 4 flats we had to pay the factor who then insured communal areas/ dealt with cleaning etc. Again we paid when we moved into a new build estate and there was play areas etc to be maintained.

Marisco

ChasingButterflies wrote: »

Factor is I guess the term used (in Scotland) for the Management company that individual home owners pay when there are shared areas. For example when we lived in a block of 4 flats we had to pay the factor who then insured communal areas/ dealt with cleaning etc. Again we paid when we moved into a new build estate and there was play areas etc to be maintained.

Cheers CB. In that case then I agree with the OP, she should have a bit of CT knocked off, to the value of what she pays the maintenance company to do things the council don't. TBH I didn't realise that the council is not liable for maintaining new estates!! What would happen if you couldn't afford to pay your CT, as well as a maintenance company? And how much is the average maintenance bill? You learn something new every day on MSE!!

marybelle01

I don't have any children - I should have some of my taxes rebated for an education system I have never used. I don't use the library - I want a percentage of my council tax back for a service I never use. Oh, and my back street is unadopted and my responsibility to maintain, so I want more council tax back. And as I am out of the country for eight months a year I think it is grotesquely unfair that I have to pay any taxes except for when I am actually here. Especially since I don't have any dog poop bins either!

Gardening and landscape maintenance is not the legal responsibility of a council except on land that they own, so if you want it doing, wherever you live, you pay that bill yourself - or the landowner does. And the provision of poop bins is also not a legal right - it is an option which a council may exercise, and if it does, how it does so is its own decision. It isn't a "basic need" or a right. In many areas of England these are actually paid for by the local residents associations - not by the Council, although once provided the Council often agrees to meet residents half way by providing the collection service.

You need to realise that the more and more services that are not a legal requirement which a council provides, the more your council tax will go up. These are not free services - somebody pays for them, and the somebody is you. Statutory expenditure - those services which the council must by law provide - is currently running at 60 - 75% of councils budgets, and it is estimated by the LGA that these costs will be running at 90% of council budgets within the next few years because of increasing costs in the care of vulnerable people and real term cuts in funding support combined with the freezes on council tax bills. Libraries are closing. Old peoples homes are closing. Thresholds for the care and support of vulnerable people including children are being raised because councils cannot afford the services they must provide. And you want to quibble about dog poop bins being a basic need? Get together with you neighbours, hold some fund raising events and raise the funds yourselves - then haggle with the council or the landlord to meet them half way in you installing the bins and them collecting the refuse. Nobody can expect everything to be provided for them, and you might just have some fun as well...