Abolition of Council Tax Would Particularly Benefit Eastleigh

6.40.12pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 14th Apr 2005

Commenting on the publication today of the Liberal Democrats' manifesto for the general election, Chris Huhne, the Lib Dems' candidate to take over from retiring MP David Chidgey in Eastleigh, said that Eastleigh would particularly benefit from the abolition of the Council Tax.

"The property revaluation is going to hit our area very hard because Eastleigh house prices have risen so much more than the national average - by 209 per cent against 160 per cent since 1991. Each time a house is moved up a band, the increase in council tax is 22 per cent and this goes to the government, not the local council" said Mr Huhne.

"Abolishing council tax and replacing it with local income tax would make financial sense for the vast majority of Eastleigh households threatened by property price revaluation".