East Ren council tax rates among Scotland’s lowest

East Renfrewshire residents are paying one of the lowest council tax rates in relation to their income in Scotland, new data has revealed.

The local authority is one of the top five places in Scotland where residents paid the lowest proportion of their annual salary towards council tax contributions.

Those living in the area pay just 3.69 per cent of their salary, with the average council tax payment found to be £1,573 against an average salary of £42,657.

Renfrewshire comes in at the other end of the scale, with residents paying out one of the higher council tax rates.

The figures, by specialist mortgage platform Haysto, show that residents pay 4.05 per cent of their annual salaries.

The national average for Scotland was found to be £1,195 per dwelling, with the average salary at £29,980, making the average Council Tax payment four percent of residents’ annual pay – the lowest out of all Great Britain.

The highest rate in Scotland has been recorded in Argyll and Bute, where residents pay the highest proportion of Council Tax of 5.04 percent despite only earning just over £25,400.

This is in stark contrast to Scotland’s highest earners in East Renfrewshire, where residents on average are earning over £42,000 and only having to spend 3.69 per cent of their annual salary on council tax.

Earlier this year it was announced that all of Scotland’s 32 local councils had agreed to freeze council tax at last year’s levels for the coming year.

Although this is great news for Scottish residents on a short-term basis, the discussion has turned to examine how out-of-date the country’s current council tax system is.

According to new research, home values are 30 years out of date, with most low to middle-income families paying the most as a proportion of their income.

This has led to calls for action from campaigners, who demand reform of council tax rates to close the gap in Scotland.