Forum Topic

Wandsworth Council Survey re Council Tax

Putney News has an article this morning about this survey. In case anybody else (like me) is unaware of the survey via WBC do check it out. Sorry but I can't link it.

Lucille Grant ● 57d13 Comments

The Putney News article with a link to the survey. https://putney.news/2026/09/03/wandsworth-council-wants-to-challenge-a-84m-cut-in-funding-and-needs-your-help-to-do-so/

Michael Ixer ● 57d

Thanks Lucille. I only saw the survey announcement in the Putney news (thanks for linking Michael). I'm wondering how many Wandsworth residents are actually aware of the potential increase in council tax. The low number of respondents to the survey suggests either people are aware of the impending increase, or don't know there is a survey (probably both). The previous council buried their head in the sand and kept the residents in the dark of the central government funding cuts. I'm glad the council are now doing something for awareness and trying to do something (although I'm not sure how effective a survey will be).

Carl Broadley ● 57d

Thanks for the link Michael.Carl I have no idea how residents have been informed about the survey. The fact that few have responded so far indicates a dreadful lack of communication by WBC. On top of that I found the survey to be most user unfriendly with the drag down menu instead of the usual tick box option.

Lucille Grant ● 57d

The fact that there was a huge rise in council tax coming has been known about since December 2025. In addition the tories election manifesto said "if you vote Labour back in your council tax will more than double" So none of this should come as a surprise.

Michael Brigo ● 57d

The possibility of a high increase in our council tax didn't come as a surprise to me but the fact that WBC have issued a survey to residents is a surprise. That's why I began this thread, to inform others that they have the opportunity to make their views known to the Council. Hope that helps.

Lucille Grant ● 57d

Understood Lucille, my point was that one poster on this thread has already said it was covered up, and it wasn't.

Michael Brigo ● 57d

I agree that it was known that the council tax would need to go up; there were articles about it in the Putney News before the council elections. My comment was that the previous council were not exactly up-front about it. In the Wandsworth Labour Manifesto there is a "Same Low Council Tax" section - https://battersea.laboursites.org/wandsworth-manifesto-2026/ And in this councillor's instagram post from March announcing the manifesto, they say: "Re-elect a Wandsworth Labour council for:
💸 Same Low Council Tax" - https://www.instagram.com/p/DWbXimjiMmq/ 

Carl Broadley ● 57d

Tis a fair point, a pity no Councillor seems to read this forum

Michael Brigo ● 57d

Ms GrantI believe this is the result of Burnham's intention to hit the affluent South East of the country and give greater assistance to 'the North'.Thus councils have to react.Far more fundamental is the following as reported in the Express on 23rd August."Andy Burnham’s latest tax plan could see inspectors force their way into UK homes"Ministers have confirmed through answers to Conservative parliamentary questions that inspectors will carry out "internal inspections".Andy Burnham’s Government is preparing to send “mansion tax police” into private homes across England to decide whether owners must pay thousands of pounds under a new surcharge. HMRC valuation agents will have the power to demand entry to properties to check whether they are worth more than £2 million and therefore liable for the levy. Homeowners who refuse an inspector entry will commit a criminal offence and face a fine of up to £200. Those who fail to provide requested information without a reasonable excuse risk a fine of up to £500.'As reported in MailOnline-"Mansion tax police 'to target houses with scenic views, conservatories and big garages' for new punitive levy"'Houses with scenic views, conservatories, large garages and other features will be targeted by the mansion tax 'police' assessing who should pay a punitive housing levy, it was claimed today.Inspectors charged with working out which homes are worth enough to be hit by the new property raid have a checklist of features they can use to push up their taxable value.They include a host of popular housing features as well as more subjective measures such as the quality of a property's view and its architectural style.'West Putney progressives - "Dont answer the door" !

John Hawkes ● 56d

"I believe this is the result of Burnham's intention to hit the affluent South East of the country and give greater assistance to 'the North'."It was announced in December 2025 so you can't blame him.The process of local council inspectors coming into your house and "having a nose" is pretty common across Europe apparently - I guess if people there have gotten used to it then we will as well?

Michael Brigo ● 56d

Mr Brigo'"I believe this is the result of Burnham's intention to hit the affluent South East of the country and give greater assistance to 'the North'."It was announced in December 2025 so you can't blame him.'OK I take the point that it is Labour policy and not Burnham's own.After all he was only elected to Parliament three months ago.'The process of local council inspectors coming into your house and "having a nose" is pretty common across Europe apparently - I guess if people there have gotten used to it then we will as well?'Just because it happened under Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy does not mean it is acceptable in the UK.We have a more established and stable understanding and practice of civil liberties than do these European countries.We tend to start with a premise - "my house is my castle".  This saying traces back to the English legal principle that "an Englishman's home is his castle", first articulated in the 16th and 17th centuries. Sir Edward Coke, a prominent English jurist, formalized this idea in his work The Institutes of the Laws of England (1628), stating, "For a man's house is his castle", highlighting that a home is a person's safest refuge and a place where they have legal protections against intrusion This principle became foundational in English common law and influenced the development of the castle doctrine, which allows individuals to defend their homes from intruders with reasonable force'.Sounds fine to me.Do you with your European ancestry disagree ?

John Hawkes ● 56d

I don't have a strong feeling either way but like you I find the concept pretty odd.

Michael Brigo ● 56d

It could go up 160 per cent.

Barbara Stevens ● 56d