planning on substantial building work to the house ?

[kronas]

be warned, in 2007 tax bands are to be re evaluated which means that any modifications you make to your house will now mean that they will be subject to affecting your tax band and thus you paying more per year (month)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4103708.stm

source BBC news

although they have a point i still think we pay too much tax in this country and i find it wrong in that sense.

[Angua]

The type of improvements they will look at are things like extra bedrooms and not necessarily things like conservatories or improvements which fall within permitted development rights. This will be particularly tough on people who have added attic rooms as these rarely add that much to the value.

[BBKing]

i find it wrong in that sense.

I don't. If you're going to have a property tax it's got to be graded on the (relative) value of the property. If a particular property is worth more (again, relatively) then it gets taxed more. It's the same principle as paying more income tax if your salary goes up, or if you make a big profit on some shares, you may not like the big figure in the column for 'cash nicked by Gordon Brown' but you're still better off. Likewise in the case of a house you're still sitting on a property that's worth more than it would have been.