Labour will not touch council tax bands during this Parliament, Steve Reed, the Housing Secretary, has announced.
Mr Reed ruled out overhauling council tax during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool despite months of rumours that ministers were targeting wealthy homeowners.
He said: “We’ve got enough on our hands – [council tax revaluation] is not on our agenda.”
Council tax bands are based on property valuations from 1991, which means areas with lower house price growth have disproportionately expensive bills. Mr Reed confirmed that re-valuation had not even been discussed with Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor.
It comes after a cross-party housing committee said in July that councils should be given more control over the council tax system, such as the right to revalue properties in their area.
Updating these values would likely result in higher bills for households in wealthier areas where property prices have risen the most.
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The review was led by the Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee and said the current council tax system was “highly regressive”.
However homeowners remain braced for the Budget, after mounting speculation that Labour will target property in its next tax raid.
The think tank Onward recently published a report proposing an overhaul of council tax and stamp duty.
The proposal is to replace both levies with a “horizontal, proportional” property tax, with revenues going to local government.
For properties above £500,000 there would be a national property tax at an annual rate between 0.54 per cent between £500,000 and £1,000,000. The Government has denied reports that it is considering such a tax.
However the Chancellor is reportedly considering launching a capital gains tax on primary residences worth £1.5m.
In her Spending Review, Rachel Reeves gave the green light to further council tax rises in this Parliament. It means town halls will be able to raise the levy by the maximum 5pc, increasing the spiralling tax burden on families.
Nine out of 10 local authorities raised council tax by 5pc in April, taking the average bill to £2,280.
Elliot Keck, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group, previously told The Telegraph: “While there is a case for revaluation and for giving councils some flexibility, households are already being clobbered annually by inflation-busting rate rises on top of the catastrophic tax raid launched in last year’s Budget.
“Any council tax reform should focus on how to reduce the overall burden of council tax on families.”
