The Welsh Government will delay plans for major changes to the council tax system in Wales, pushing a decision back until the next Senedd term.

Finance Minister Elin Jones confirmed the Welsh Government will propose a later date for the planned council tax revaluation, by bringing forward legislation to defer the plans until the next Senedd term.

Speaking in the Senedd, the Minister said the decision follows “detailed work over the summer to assess the costs of implementation, and the impact of updating council tax bands”, which are still based on property values from 2003.

Research estimates that around a quarter of households could have seen their council tax band go up, another quarter could have seen their band go down, while around half would have seen minimal change.

For some households facing an increase, it could have meant paying hundreds of pounds more a year, and supporting those households responsibly could have cost up to £80m in the first year alone.

Cabinet Minister for Finance Elin Jones said: “That's a serious amount of money at a genuinely difficult time for public finances, with real pressures this year, especially in the NHS, and less funding coming from the UK Government going forward.

"Every pound has to go further right now, and we're focused on bringing down NHS waiting lists, helping families with the cost of childcare, creating jobs, and raising educational standards.

"It wouldn't have been fair to press ahead with this without fully supporting households, particularly at a time when household budgets are under significant pressure.

"We know the current system is unfair.

“Some people are still paying council tax based on what their home was worth over twenty years ago.

“That hasn't changed, and neither has our view.

"This isn't about giving up on council tax reform or retreating from fairness. It's a practical call about timing and what we must prioritise. We'll spend this time looking at other, more targeted ways to improve the system that don't come with the same price tag, and we welcome any ideas."

Legislation to defer the revaluation to the next Senedd term will be brought forward next month.

A Bill to reform the local tax system in Wales was passed by the Senedd in 2024, but those plans were then delayed until 2028.

The Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill aimed to increase how often the values of all non-domestic properties in Wales are updated, to once every three years while establishing a five yearly cycle of domestic property revaluations from April 2028 onwards.

It would also “provide more flexibility to fit future possible redesigns of the system,” the Welsh Government said at the time.

They said the move would leave to council tax cuts for around 800,000 homes, with around 470,000 homes seeing an increase and that the current system was ‘out of date’ and did not represent current house values.

The last time Wales revalued properties for council tax was in 2003.