London, Friday 10 September, 2004
Computer modelling technology will be used for the first time
to assist in the revaluation of domestic properties in England,
the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) announced today. The revaluation
will review the banding of all properties for council tax and will
come into effect on 1 April 2007. The use of the technology will
increase consistency of valuations and make the revaluation process
more efficient and cost-effective.
The VOA is responsible for assessing all 22 million domestic properties
in England and placing them in the appropriate band. The aim of
revaluation is to keep council tax bandings up to date, and thus
ensure a fair distribution of liability across council taxpayers.
Valuation Office staff take account of the size, age, character
and locality of the property, and will use sales price data from
around the valuation date (1 April 2005) to arrive at an accurate
property banding. The new computer modelling technology will speed
up the process, as data processing and calculation work can be
done automatically from property data (for example, number of rooms,
floor area, age of property) and sales information. The new technology
will help to make banding more consistent across large numbers
of similar properties, and will enable the VOA to provide council
taxpayers with more information about how their property has been
valued.
The decision to use the computer modelling technology in revaluation
follows extensive testing over the last year. The process of revaluation
in England using the new technology will start in April 2005 for
completion by September 2006, when the new draft council tax lists
will be published before they come into effect from 1 April 2007.
The lists will show the band for each domestic property in England.
Andrew Hudson, Chief Executive, VOA, said: “This technology
offers improved consistency that will help us deliver valuations
in a fair and objective way across England. We are taking advantage
of the technology, developed by Cole Layer Trumble Company, of
which similar systems have already been used extensively in revaluations
of all types of property in the United States of America, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand and many European countries."
- Ends -
Notes for Editors:
About the Valuation Office Agency
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is an Executive Agency of the
Inland Revenue. Its main responsibilities are assessing rateable
values for the purpose of non-domestic rating and valuing domestic
properties for council tax purposes in England and Wales. It
is also involved in establishing capital values for the Inland
Revenue in connection with capital gains tax and inheritance
tax as well as carrying out a range of property related services
for other government departments and public sector bodies. It
has around 5,000 employees and a network of offices throughout
England, Wales and Scotland, which provide a local service.
About Council Tax Revaluation
Under the council tax, all homes in England are currently placed
in one of eight value bands, based on their open market value
on 1 April 1991. It is not sustainable to raise tax indefinitely
on the basis of 1991 property values and so the Local Government
Act 2003 provides for a revaluation to take effect from 1 April
2007, for which work on the revaluation of all 22 million dwellings
in England should start in 2005. Under these proposals, council
tax bills based on 2005 property values will first issue in 2007.
Thereafter, the Local Government Act sets out that there should
be a revaluation every ten years. No decisions have yet been
reached by the Government on whether, and if so what, revisions
should be made to the level and number of council tax bands.
Those decisions will be informed by the outcome of the review
currently being undertaken by Sir Michael Lyons due to report
by end of 2005.
Website: www.voa.gov.uk
About Cole Layer Trumble Company
The Cole Layer Trumble Company (CLT) is a division of Tyler Technologies,
Inc. a leading provider of end-to-end information management
solutions and services to local governments in the U.S. and Canada.
CLT is the largest provider of mass appraisal and property tax
software and reassessment outsourcing services in North America.
Since its founding in 1938, CLT has provided appraisal outsourcing
services and property tax administration software to over 1,200
assessing jurisdictions and has appraised more than sixty million
parcels of real property.
Media Enquiries, Valuation Office Agency:
Julie Styles
Communications Projects Manager
Tel: 0207 506 1969
Email: julie.styles@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Steve Perkins
Communications Projects Co-ordinator
Tel: 0207 506 1926
Email: steven.perkins@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Michelle MacCrossen
Communications Projects Co-ordinator
Tel: 0207 506 1965
Email: michelle.maccrossen@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Roger Charles
Communications Projects Co-ordinator
Tel: 0207 506 1927
Email: roger.charles@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Andy Mahady
Communications Projects Co-ordinator
Tel: 0207 506 1934
Email: andy.mahady@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Media Enquiries, Cole Layer Trumble Company:
Michelle Parker
Tel: 0870904 5688
Email: michelle.perkins@iraspire.com
Suzannah Bryan
Tel: 0870366 0967
Email: suzannah.bryan@iraspire.com
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