Council tax has risen for millions of people from today as 90 per cent of households will see their bill increase by the maximum amount this month.
From 1 April, the average annual band D bill, the standard measure of council tax, will be £2,280, an increase of £109 on 2024-25. It is a 20 per cent rise on 2021-22 when the average bill was £1,898.
Official figures from the ministry of housing, communities and local government confirm nine out of ten (91 per cent) authorities in England will impose a 4.99 per cent increase this year. This is the maximum amount councils are allowed to increase tax without holding a referendum.
This means councils felt it necessary to impose significant increases, to cover growing cost pressures and rising demand for support services not provided by direct government grants and other revenue.
For nearly 70 per cent of England’s population, it is the third consecutive year that bills have gone up by at least the maximum legal amount.
The map below shows the annual band D council tax bill for each local authority:
In London boroughs, the average council tax bill is now £1,982 – an increase of £89 or 4.7 per cent on last year.
This means households in the capital now have the lowest average bills and the smallest cash increases in 2025-26.
Meanwhile, metropolitan areas outside the capital, including areas like the Midlands and the north of England, will have the largest percentage and cash increase of 5.6 per cent and £121 respectively, taking bills to £2,289.
Unitary areas, which tend to be larger and do not include lower tier districts, have seen the highest average bill of £2,366, an increase of £118 (5.2 per cent), while households in shire counties see a 4.8 per cent increase of £106, taking bills to £2,344.
The overall council requirement calculated for all councils in England in 2025-26 is £44.1 billion, a jump of £2.9 billion, or 7.0 per cent, on 2024-25 levels.
This requirement has risen by 28 per cent since 2021-22 when the figure was 34,437.
Average area band D council tax ranges from £998 in Wandsworth, south London, to £2,671 in Rutland, with 73 per cent of authorities having an area average band D between £2,200 and £2,500.
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