Council tax hikes for residents with views of the sea or the South Downs would be kicking recession-hit families while they are down, according to a senior councillor.

Jan Young, Brighton and Hove City Council's cabinet member for finance, warned that people could fall victim to a "stealth council tax revaluation" being carried out by the Government.

Coun Young, responsible for setting out the council's budget, said Freedom of Information requests by the Conservative party had revealed inspectors were building a national database of properties which had scenic views.

More than 100,000 homes were already on the list and could see their council tax banding increased when the next revaluation is carried out.

Tory Coun Young said the move would undermine efforts Conservatives had made to reduce council tax rises in Brighton and Hove since seizing control of the council in the 2007 city elections.

She said: "Over the last two years, we have shown that it is perfectly possible to live within our means financially whilst still maintaining all our excellent front-line services. The Government obviously hasn’t learnt this lesson."

Coun Young said any hike would be "kicking Brighton and Hove when it is down" as residents try to deal with the impact of the recession.

She added: "Raising taxes on hard-working families by stealth in order to fill the enormous black hole in our public finances is spiteful and sends out all the wrong messages about encouraging aspiration and success in this country.”

The property valuations currently used to work out which Council Tax Bands each household falls into and how much they pay date back to 1991.

There have been calls nationally for them to be re-evaluated because many properties have since had value added because of renovations.

The Government considered a revaluation in 2005 but delayed any move so it could be considered as a wider review of local government funding.

The Valuations Office Agency yesterday said there would be no council tax revaluation during the current Parliament, which is expected to continue to next year.

It denied that any "stealth" revaluation was being carried out but confirmed views were being logged.

A VOA spokeswoman said: "The VOA continues to maintain the existing council tax lists as we have a statutory duty to keep accurate and up-to-date records on all homes in England and Wales to ensure fairness and consistency."