Council tax rises: how much more are you paying?

If council tax had a theme tune over the past few years, it'd probably be 1980s banger The Only Way is Up. 

But our analysis of Band D charges across England shows widespread variation in how those increases have played out locally, with some areas seeing relatively modest changes and others that have risen close to 50%.

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Our findings: a postcode lottery

We found an average national rise of 30.8% across England since 2020, which represents around £565 added to the average Band D bill.

Over the same period, inflation has risen a cumulative 29.4%, meaning that bills have largely kept pace. 

However, that average masks some huge regional differences. At the top end, Croydon raised its band D charge from £1,784.10 to £2,599.91 That's a cash rise of almost £816. 

At the bottom end, Hartlepool increased its band D charge by only £468, or 22%. 

Our comparisons are deliberately "like for like", based on property band D. This is the standard reference band, with other bands set as fixed proportions of it, based on 1991 valuations rather than today’s housing market.

We've included the full Band D bill – meaning not just what your local council itself charges, but also the separate precepts set by the county council, police and fire service. In most areas, these additional charges make up the bulk of the bill.

Why is council tax rising nationally?

The short answer is that councils are being asked to do more with less – and have been for 15 years.

Central government support has been cut back significantly since 2010: the National Audit Office estimates that government-funded "spending power", excluding council tax, fell by around 49% in real terms between 2010–11 and 2017–18.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies likewise finds that councils' core funding per person dropped by around a quarter over the decade.

Meanwhile, the bills just keep on coming. The IFS estimates that adult and children's social care accounted for around 65% of councils’ non-education spending in 2023–24, up from about half in 2010–11.

This year, as of 1st April, the vast majority of English councils have raised council tax by 5%. However, some have been given permission to raise it by between 6-9% due to serious financial difficulties.

Search for increases in your area

See how much your full council tax has risen since 2020 – plus your local council's own portion of the bill.

Areas where rates have risen the most

Unsurprisingly, the councils with the biggest five-year rises tend to have one thing in common: serious financial strain.

In several cases, that has led to Section 114 notices – the formal declaration that a council cannot balance its budget, and the closest thing in local government to filing for bankruptcy – the point at which the books are about as balanced as a stripped-bare Jenga tower.

After a Section 114 notice, councils are barred from entering new spending commitments, and the full council must meet to consider a way forward – the kind of meeting where even the custard creams can't coax a smile.

Croydon: Jenga economics in practice

Croydon's position at the top of the table is inseparable from that backdrop. It issued a Section 114 notice in November 2020, formally signalling an "extremely serious" financial situation.

By late 2022, the Institute for Government recorded that Croydon had issued its third Section 114 notice in two years – they're nothing if not consistent – and had secured a four‑year £150m "capitalisation direction" package from central government to support day‑to‑day spending.

This form of emergency flexibility shifts costs into long-term borrowing and asset sales, rather like being thrown a life ring and later sent the invoice for it.

The same analysis highlighted how debt servicing and legacy liabilities had left Croydon highly exposed, including total debt reported at £1.6bn.

It was also granted a bespoke, far higher referendum limit – allowing a 15% rise in 2023–24 – well above the standard ceiling for most councils.

Those decisions gave Croydon the unenviable position at the top of our table of Band D council tax increases.

Birmingham: a long tab to settle

Birmingham City Council (42%, up £695 to £2,363) has similarly turned to exceptional measures.

When the government stepped in, Birmingham had already issued a Section 114 notice in September 2023, was facing equal pay claims running into hundreds of millions, and had spent up to £100m on a new Oracle finance system – read: a government IT project that didn't work.

When the money ran out, Birmingham found a more tangible way to communicate the crisis to its residents: the bin workers went on strike.

Birmingham's budget papers show the council going cap in hand for the kind of exceptional financial support we mentioned earlier, including permission to raise council tax above the usual limits and to borrow heavily to cover day-to-day costs. The government agreed, setting a higher cap of 7.5% for council tax rises in 2025-26.

A rise of 4.99% was agreed for 2026-27 – just sneaking in under the 5% cap – which the council says represents an end to the "bankrupt Birmingham" tag for the local authority.

Slough: no laughing matter

The pattern repeats. Slough Borough Council (41%, up £706 to £2,414) issued a Section 114 report in July 2021 – with little of the deadpan humour that made it famous in The Office.

A subsequent CIPFA review, commissioned by central government, found the council's borrowing had climbed from £180m in 2016–17 to £760m in 2020–21 and warned that borrowing could rise to nearly £1bn in the short term without strict limits and substantial asset disposals.  

Slough has also been under government intervention with commissioners since December 2021.

Newham Council: concerns noted

Newham Council (41%, up £561 to £1,944) received a non‑statutory Best Value Notice from ministerial direction in May 2025, effectively the equivalent of your boss inviting you in for a "pep talk" that's more stick than carrot.

Newham's 2025-26 budget confirmed an 8.99% council tax rise, framed as necessary to keep services running. This dropped to 4.99% for 2026-27, with the council stating that it no longer requires exceptional financial support.

Despite all that – credit where it's due – Newham's total bill remains one of the lowest Band D charges of any outer London borough.

Thurrock Council: many unhappy returns

In Thurrock Council (40%, up £649 to £2,255), the financial shock was tied to investment losses and debt risk – the municipal equivalent of blowing up an options account.

In September 2022 the government announced formal intervention, appointing Essex County Council to take control of Thurrock’s financial functions in response to "grave concerns" about an exceptional level of risk and debt. 

Three months later, Thurrock’s Section 114 notice pointed to an in‑year revenue deficit of £452m for 2022-23, driven by investment write‑downs, under‑provided debt repayment (MRP), rising interest costs and falling investment income; it also referenced an initial investment write‑down assessment of £275m.

Areas where rates have risen the least

At the other end of the ranking are councils whose Band D bills have risen significantly below the average.

Hartlepool leads the way, with a rise of £468 since 2020, or 22%, with Harlow close behind at £422, or 23%.

And there is a pattern among the councils that have kept rises relatively low.

Many of them have made an active political choice to freeze or limit their own share of the bill, even when they were entitled to raise it further.

Harlow District Council is the most striking example. The authority has frozen its own share of council tax for five consecutive years, meaning residents are paying the same £4.93 a week for Harlow's services as they did back in 2021.

Basildon and Braintree tell a similar story, both freezing their own portion of the bill in 2026-27. 

Of course, none of this means residents won't see their bills rise, once charges from other authorities are factored in. Braintree council itself points out that their share only represents around 9% of the total council tax charge.

Still, the freezes represent rare acts of restraint in a landscape where almost every authority has taken the maximum rise available to them.

Hartlepool is the most politically complex case. A unitary authority – meaning it carries all local services including social care – it froze its core council tax for 2026-27 while acknowledging the decision meant forgoing nearly £3 million in annual income that its own finance officials had recommended raising.

While the council have framed this as a moral choice, the bill for that generosity may yet land on services in future years.

In short, what unites these councils is not that their residents are paying less that much less, it's that their councils have absorbed more of the pressure themselves – at least, for now.

It's not what you pay – it's what you can afford

Of course, it's worth remembering that bill hikes are only one part of the equation. 

Your total bill, and how much of your income it actually eats up, varies enormously depending on where you live – and the picture is often counterintuitive.

Even though Windsor and Maidenhead has seen one of the highest total council tax rises since 2020, the authority actually has one of the lowest council tax burdens relative to income because local wages are high enough to absorb it.

Similarly, Wandsworth, Westminster, the City of London, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Tower Hamlets all have the lowest average Band D charges in England, despite sitting in some of the most expensive property markets in the world. 

In fact, Blackpool's Band D bill is actually £851 higher than Westminster for 2026-27, despite the former being identified as one of the most deprived local authorities in the UK. 

Which means that for all the variation in how much bills have risen since 2020, the more fundamental unfairness was unfortunately already baked in long ago.

Councils respond

In response to a request for comment, Slough council said it is working with Government-appointed commissioners toward financial self-sufficiency, with a balanced budget targeted by 2028/29.

It cited significant demand pressures in adult social care and temporary accommodation as key cost drivers, and said Government expects councils in receipt of exceptional financial support to raise council tax by 4.99% as a condition of that support. The council said it has set aside a £355,000 hardship fund for residents who struggle to meet the increased bills.

Birmingham City Council said its Section 114 notice was issued to address equal pay liabilities and an in-year budget gap, and directed us to its published budget documents.

Other councils did not respond to our request for comment.

How these figures were compiled

This analysis compared billing authorities' Band D council tax levels in 2020–21 and 2026–27 using official MHCLG figures, calculating the percentage change over the period. It omits councils with missing or non‑comparable data. Due to local variation and complexity, your actual bill may vary from the figures shown here.

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