Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department has issued to valuation officers from the HMRC Valuation Office regarding the taking of photographs, and their retention, (a) outside homes of dwellings or gardens and (b) inside dwellings, for council tax valuation purposes.

HMRC provides guidance to Valuation Office caseworkers undertaking property inspections that internal and external photographs are an important part of a property survey

Where photographs are taken from within the property boundary, the occupier’s permission must be obtained. Permission is not required for photographs taken from the public highway

Where photographs form part of Council Tax casework, they are retained in accordance with the Valuation Office’s information retention schedules.