Originally posted by FantasticMrFox Not an Aussie, but basically a local tax to fund councils and their work. The same exists in the UK.
Big difference is that in UK the occupier pays, in Australia the owner pays. Makes a difference for people renting properties.
Another difference. In Australia the property value used is updated regularly to reflect the market value of the property. And discounted about 10%, to eliminate disputes the government overvalued the place to exact extra tax.
In UK they work on a banding system, so houses are grouped in bands A to H, and the tax depends on the band. But properties are banded based on their value some long time ago, I think about 1990, and newer builds have a disadvantage because they are banded according to their value when built, so are in higher bands than older places in equivalent places, which may even have a higher market value.
When buying a house in either country one of the pieces of information that is easy to find in the marketing materials is the amount of this tax. Part of buying due diligence.
Buying in England is much more complicated than in South Australia.