Now a tax on tree houses

In an attempt to squeeze households for ever more cash, the Government will classify a tree house as a home improvement which adds value to a property.

The reclassification plan – confirmed by the Lords Minister for Local Government Baroness Andrews – will also see home owners charged more council tax for landscaping a garden, adding a conservatory or even living near a green space.

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She told the House of Lords: “The test is whether the presence of a tree house would have any effect on the property’s capital value.” The tax raid on ordinary families forms part of Labour’s bid to raise more council tax by revaluing every home in England.

The news comes just days after the Daily Express revealed that ministers expect council tax to rocket by an inflation-busting 10 per cent over the next two years as Labour struggles to find cash to pay soaring Government debt.

A further rise of £62 a year on Band D homes is expected in April, taking the typical bill to £120 a month.

The Government’s Pre-Budget Report also revealed that it expects council tax receipts to rise by an average 10 per cent in the next two years.

Details of the new threat emerged in questions to Baroness Andrews.

She confirmed that tree houses will be taken into account during the banding of a property for council tax, especially if such a feature “adds value”.

Official documents show that other features which could attract inspectors include “proximity to open fields, a village green or extensive landscaped grounds”.

Moving a house from one council tax band up to the next one will leave householders having to find, on average, around £250 extra a year.

Every household in the country will have its council tax band revalued after the next general election.

Plans for a nationwide revaluation in England have been delayed until then because Labour feared the electoral consequences.

Shadow Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles warned that families would rather wreck their gardens than face paying more council tax, which has already doubled since Labour came to power. He said: “The English garden is one of the defining traits of our national identity.

“Now Gordon Brown has been caught red-handed cooking up new ways of taxing those with green fingers.

“Families face higher council tax bills if they saved up for a conservatory, green house, nice garden or just live near a village green.

“Faced with the prospect of a higher council tax for a tree house, I fear cash-strapped dads struggling to make ends meet will be pressured into cutting down or dismantling their tree house.

“No one is safe from Brown’s tax bombshell – not even children.”

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “If homes with tree houses have to pay more council tax, revaluation will disproportionately hit families who are already struggling with their tax bills. The Government and Councils should be looking for ways to trim spending and cut tax. Revaluation should be shelved – permanently.”

Preparations for revaluation of council tax are already well under way in England, generating huge controversy.

A giant database of virtually every property in the country has been created, with spending on that alone already reaching £13million.

Contracts have been signed with the Ordnance Survey, the Land Registry and estate agents’ website Rightmove to build up data on properties.

A contract signed by the Treasury  reveals detailed information from nine out of 10 house sales and rentals is already logged on a “Big Brother” database.

Some councils are even using random“surveys” to snoop on private homes.