Pensioner appalled at hike in tax (From Western Telegraph)

Pensioner appalled at hike in tax

A WAR veteran is appalled his home improvements may have landed him with a heftier council tax bill.

Harry Llewellyn, of Freystrop, bought a dilapidated stone farmhouse with his wife Kath in 1980.

Since then, the couple have put all their time and money into improving the property.

But their home suddenly, and inexplicably, increased two bands, to band F, in last week's council tax bill. Mr Llewellyn is not aware of any inspection of the property and said: "I can only assume we did a better job on the look of the place than we thought, and whoever came was given the impression we must be ten times more affluent than we are."

The former construction worker lives on his war and state pensions and the £100 per year increase in council tax will have a substantial impact.

He contacted the Welsh Assembly office in Carmarthen, and was told it was a postcode issue and he should move to a smaller house if there was a problem.

But the Llewellyns do not want to give up the home they have spent 26 years making their own.

Age Concern Cymru's Michael Phillips said council tax payments are a problem for almost half of older people in Wales.

He said: "It beggars belief that, in the recent budget, the chancellor failed to give pensioners any extra help." Mr Phillips said council tax has doubled in the last decade and is a huge financial burden for pensioners living on a fixed income, which has increased little in that time.

Age Concern Cymru is calling for a system of taxation linked to ability to pay and urges older people to claim their full entitlement.

Mr Phillips said: "Up to two million older people are missing out on council tax benefits worth up to £1.1billion."