ANALYSIS: £111 to be added to average council tax bill

by London-TV in Business

An average of £111 will be added to council tax bills in England this coming financial year, the largest nominal increase since 2003-04, when it rose by £126, the TaxPayers’ Alliance has revealed. This was also the second largest nominal rise in the history of council tax.

The analysis of government data out this morning (25th March) also found that only twice in the last 12 years has council tax risen by below inflation, in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Council tax will rise by 4.9 per cent in 2026-27, significantly above the current rate of inflation, of 3 per cent. Since 2005-06 there have only been four higher percentage increases compared to 2026-27, three of which have occurred in the last three financial years.

Of 384 councils subject to referendum principles, just 110 didn’t use the maximum increase available to them, with only 21 freezing or reducing their average band D council tax. Shire areas saw the second smallest average increase of 4.6 per cent, or £108. Despite this, the government is planning on reorganising shire areas from county council/district council splits into unitary authorities.

Average band D council exceeded £2,000 in London for the first time, with an increase of £87. However this was the smallest average increase of different council types in percentage terms, of 4.4 per cent.

Seven councils will be allowed to increase council tax by above the referendum cap without holding a referendum, up from six in 2025-26. The councils this applies to in 2026-27 are Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Trafford, Warrington, Windsor and Maidenhead, North Somerset, Shropshire, and Worcestershire.

Responding to the council tax data Darwin Friend, research director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

“Local government is continuing to pile the pressure onto already stretched household budgets, with the largest increase in bills in two decades

“There is no doubt that central government is partly responsible given its refusal to tackle the issues of social care and SEND, but local authorities continue to have serious problems with productivity, efficiency and waste.

“All levels of government from Whitehall to town halls need to start cutting their own spending, rather than demanding taxpayers cut theirs.”