First Direct signals the end of cheap mortgages

We have virtually no say in increases which are frequent and large. Our council tax bills are expected to increase by an average of 4% this year alone. They have doubled since 1997.

It is the most unfair and opaque element of our tax system.

Now the government has reportedly failed to tell tens of thousands of householders they are paying too much council tax.

Worse still, ministers have known for at least two years that many homes are in the wrong tax band but have kept quiet, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Concerns about the situation and the likelihood of 'adverse press coverage' were apparently raised at a Council Tax Revaluation Board meeting in 2005. Too late guys.

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "Whilst the Valuation Office Agency believe the overwhelming majority of council tax bands are accurate, anyone who has evidence that they are in too high a band can request a review and lower their banding. If successful, they will also qualify for a rebate from their council."

Oh please. So not only do they screw up, take our money and then keep quiet about it for years, they want us to investigate whether or not we have been ripped off and then try to claim our money back.

Next month, Sir Michael Lyons is due to publish a long-awaited report outlining plans for a major shake-up of the council tax system and many believe it will recommend the creation of a new “superband” for properties worth more than £1 million. As house prices have risen so much, this would hit many more homeowners than before. But Lyons is also expected to outline some new benefits to help those on low incomes cope with council tax bills.

Unfortunately, the report is due to be released on 12 March which is Budget Day. So you can expect to wait a day or so before it can be picked apart by the press.

Local government officials are also calling for a radical overhaul of the tax. Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, chairman of the Local Government Association which represents the interests of local government in parliament, has warned that at present, tax payers are taking on too much of the burden for funding local authorities and local services. He urged chancellor Gordon Brown to implement comprehensive structural changes to the tax, rather than merely tinker with the banding and warned that current council tax levels were too high, saying "The council tax system is unfair, unsustainable and in desperate need of wholesale reform. Much of the failing of the present system can be attributed to political short-termism, confusion and a failure of will to reform a structure that is decades out of date. If nothing is done, council taxpayers, particularly vulnerable groups such as the elderly, will face ever bigger bills or see services cut.”

At last someone who talks sense.

It is time for the government to simplify council tax and make it more transparent. 

A revaluation of UK homes is long overdue: the current valuation system dates from 1991. Unless this is accompanied by a radical overhaul of the current banding system, revaluation would almost certainly see millions of homes pushed into a higher council tax bracket.

Councils must identify homeowners who have been over-charged and provide refunds with interest.

There has to be accountability about how the money is raised and spent.

There has to be more help for those who simply cannot afford to pay.

Increases in council tax should only be made after councils have presented a clear case to an independent body.

Councils should be made to refund or lower the tax when they fail to provide proper services.

I would love to know what you think about this. I will be posting more on council tax in the coming weeks, keeping you informed and looking in more depth at the Lyons proposals. Please leave your comments below...

Is there really any difference?

Everyone knows the benefits of staying hydrated, but is buying bottled water really the best way to do it? And is it necessary to be spending close to £2 billion a year on the stuff, when we have drinkable tap water at our fingertips?

London On Tap says bottled water costs 500 times more than tap water, and according to the Container Recycling Institute, it can take 450 years to break down the plastic bottles in landfills.

Are we crazy to keep shelling out our hard earned cash for something that might not be any better for us - or the environment - than the drinkable water which we can access for free?

Get healthy eating advice from Tesco Diets

As daft as this sounds, beer is actually becoming cheaper than bottled water in supermarkets. Yet unfortunately for the wallet as well as the environment, London On Tap says one in five people still find it uncomfortable to ask for tap water in restaurants for fear of looking cheap.

And as for the common notion that bottled water is healthier, that may also not be entirely accurate. Dame Yve Buckland, Chairwoman of the Consumer Council for Water Group has categorically said that there is no health advantage to drinking bottled water. Our reason for choosing the bottle simply comes down to personal taste preferences.

The taste test

We decided to put bottled water versus tap to the test and asked five of our resident water connoisseurs here at MSN if they could tell the difference. Relying only on their stellar taste buds, our team were asked to pick out which one of our five samples was taken direct from the tap.

We called on Stephanie Sanchez , Andrea Braida , James Hurley ，Colleen Last and Ed Holden for their expertise. Here's what they had to say...

Sample 1 - Highland Spring

Stephanie: "It doesn't have much taste, but it's ok"

Colleen: "It's really cold, and slightly metallic"

James: "It's very… clean"

Andrea: "It doesn’t have much taste"

Ed: "I quite like it, nothing really to taste"

2 - Caledonian Still (From Sainsbury's)

Stephanie: "It's metallic tasting"

Colleen: "I don't think I like this one very much"

James: "It tastes the same as the other one to me, but I like this one the best so far"

Andrea: "I bet it's the tap"

Ed: "It really does just taste like water… but I think this could be from the tap"

3 - The Tap

Stephanie: "I think this one's the tap water"

Colleen: "It tastes really smooth and velvety, I like this one"

James: "It's kind of fruity and has a slight aftertaste. I'm guessing this is the tap"

Andrea: "It tastes a bit off, I think this is the tap"

Ed: "It really does just tastes like water… I think this is from the tap"

4 - Suio

Stephanie: "It has a sweet, kind of fruity aftertaste"

Colleen: "It just tastes like water, I don’t really know what to say about this one"

James: "It tastes quite clean"

Andrea: "There's not much taste, I bet this is bottled"

Ed: "It's a bit sweeter tasting"

The Verdict

The Verdict: James, Andrea, and Stephanie correctly identified the tap water. Although the other two tasted a little something different about the tap, they didn't hate it.

Conclusion? Even though tap water may taste slightly different to bottled water for some people, it's really not all that noticeable.