BoroughBook.UKAlphaEngland, 2026/27

Your council tax, decoded

Put in your postcode to see where a Band D bill goes in 2026/27: how much your council keeps, and how much goes to the county council or the Mayor of London, police, fire, the combined authority and parish councils, and what changed on last year. All 296 councils in England, from the government’s own tables.

Councils in England296every one that sends a bill
The middle council’s own share3.0%up on 2025/26
The middle Band D bill+£111.29a year, on 2025/26

Find your council

Your postcode tells us your council; you see its bill. Or pick your council from the list.

Across England

Each council sets its own share of the bill; the county council or the Mayor of London, police, fire and combined authorities add theirs. Where did each drive the rise?

Where the council’s own share rose most

The council's own share of a Band D bill, 2026/27 on 2025/26: the ten biggest rises
CouncilRise, %Rise, £
North Somerset8.99%+£161.26
Shropshire8.99%+£162.42
Trafford7.49%+£128.95
Windsor and Maidenhead7.48%+£106.29
Warrington7.48%+£139.71
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole6.74%+£125.05
Leicester5.00%+£101.03
Leeds5.00%+£90.61
City of London4.99%+£52.92
Portsmouth4.99%+£90.79

The council in the middle of all 296 raised its own share 2.99%.

Where the council froze or cut its own share, and the bill still rose

In 21 places, all of them districts, the council held its own share or cut it, yet the whole bill went up, because the county council, police or fire put theirs up:

Councils that froze or cut their own share while the whole Band D bill rose, 2026/27
CouncilIts own shareWhole bill
Wychavon£0.00+£172.21
Malvern Hills£0.00+£170.10
Wealden£0.00+£119.99
Eastleigh−£12.07+£114.53
East Cambridgeshire£0.00+£111.05
Broadland−£0.42+£109.79
Reigate and Banstead£0.00+£107.41
Fenland−£1.44+£104.93
Watford£0.00+£103.32
Erewash£0.00+£100.58
North Warwickshire£0.00+£100.32
Newark and Sherwood£0.00+£99.88
Dartford£0.00+£94.60
Chorley£0.00+£87.38
Ribble Valley£0.00+£86.92
Hyndburn£0.00+£85.96
Braintree£0.00+£85.67
Basildon£0.00+£82.61
Harlow£0.00+£82.26
Harborough−£9.16+£64.91
Lincoln£0.00+£62.10

Where the rest of the bill drove the rise

In two-tier areas the county council sets most of the bill, so it usually drives the rise. Among councils with no county council above them, these are where the other bodies made up the biggest part of it:

Single-tier councils where the Mayor of London, police, fire or a combined authority made up most of the Band D rise, 2026/27
CouncilFrom the othersWhole rise
Wandsworth66%+£30.46
Westminster66%+£30.55
Merton38%+£52.33
Doncaster35%+£57.25
Durham33%+£70.98
Wigan33%+£121.40
Middlesbrough33%+£61.51
Hartlepool32%+£61.67
Manchester31%+£129.01
Rutland30%+£66.57
sourcedCouncil tax requirement tables, 2026/27 and 2025/26

Every council

All 296 councils in England that send council tax bills, by region.

East Midlands (35)
East of England (45)
London (33)
North East (12)
North West (35)
South East (64)
South West (27)
West Midlands (30)
Yorkshire and the Humber (15)

Questions

What is Band D?

Every home in England is in one of eight council tax bands, A to H, by what it was worth in 1991. Band D is the one the government uses to compare councils; the other bands pay a fixed share of it, from six ninths (Band A) to eighteen ninths (Band H). The figures assume two adults: someone living alone gets 25% off.

Why does it say 'on average'?

Parish and town councils set their own share, so the bill differs from one parish to the next; like the government's tables, the figures include them on average across the council's area. The other parts are the same across the area, apart from a few districts that charge some places extra for local services (special expenses).

What is a precept?

The share of the bill set by a body that does not send bills itself: a county council, the Mayor of London, a police and crime commissioner, a fire authority, a combined authority or a parish council. Your council collects it with its own share and passes it on.

Does it cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Not yet. Scotland and Wales set council tax with their own bands and rules, and Northern Ireland has rates instead. BoroughBook.UK has full pages for Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Highlands, Cardiff and Belfast.

Where do the figures come from?

The government's council tax requirement tables for 2026/27 and 2025/26 (Table 10), which every council fills in. They split each council's average Band D between its own share, parish and town councils, and each body that adds its share; the parts are checked to add up to the government's total for every council.

Is BoroughBook.UK the council?

No. BoroughBook.UK is an independent project, not run by or affiliated with any council or party.

From Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Table 10: council tax requirement data for billing authorities and Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England, Table 10: council tax requirement data for billing authorities, 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026. Average Band D for two adults: the council's own share without parish or town councils (line 9), parish and town councils on average across the area (line 8 less line 9), and each major preceptor (line 16), adding up to the area's Band D (line 17).