Ramsey Commissioners are support changes to the way domestic rates are valued.

Currently the charge is based on the rental value of a property half a century ago, but government has proposed a new method of assessment based on the size of homes.

The chairman of the local authority, Andy Cowie, says this is a step towards a more equitable system, which will be easier to understand than the present one.

The change of assessment method was put forward in a Cabinet Office consultation on the collection and distribution of both domestic and non-domestic rates, which closed on April 21.

Under the proposal, properties would be given a rateable value based on the ’size in square metres of all the floors in a building’, which would be calculated using aerial photographs.

Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas has said this is a cheaper way of addressing an ’out-of-date and unfair’ system than revaluing homes based on their capital value.

It’s thought this could cost anywhere between one and two million pounds, whereas the area-based method is said to be much cheaper.

A second concept outlined in the consultation was the possible introduction of a central body collecting all the island’s business rates instead of local authorities.

Ramsey Commissioners have already said they’re against that idea. Douglas’s council leader agrees.