Londoners face being hit by average council tax rises of up to £100 from April, analysis by the Evening Standard reveals.
Bills are being driven up by Sadiq Khan’s drive for extra funds to help police tackle knife crime, and as cash-strapped councils seek more money, particularly for adult social services.
Mr Khan’s 8.9 per cent increase in his share of bills is the biggest hike in his three years as Mayor, and means households will pay City Hall an average of £320.51 a year, up £26.28.
His annual budget - of which an average of £242 from every household goes to the Met police - was being rubber-stamped today [Mon] by the London Assembly.
Kingston council will again set the capital’s highest council tax, with calculations suggesting its benchmark Band D rate will increase by a total of £99.26 to £1,870 once the Mayor’s “precept” is included.
Residents in Richmond face a £96.78 rise. Harrow’s bills will rise £95.88. Sutton has proposed a £91.57 hike.
Westminster will again set London’s lowest bill, at £753.
It is one of three Tory boroughs, with Wandsworth and Kensington and Chelsea, that are in the unusual position of imposing a smaller increase than City Hall.
Westminster has benefited by raising £600,000 in additional payments through a voluntary “mansion tax” on its wealthiest residents.
Bills will rise in every one of London’s 33 local authority areas. Some have been forced to end a policy of freezing their share of bills. The City of London Corporation said it was imposing the first rise in a decade. Other proposed increases include £86.35 in Lewisham, £86.31 in Brent, £84.55 in Hounslow, £84.06 in Bromley and £80.19 in Hackney.
Lambeth, where bills will rise £58.93, said the Government’s failure to secure a Brexit deal had left funding “even more uncertain”.
The average increase across the capital is £71, an Evening Standard analysis of draft council budgets found.
Many councils have increased their share of bills by a fraction under five per cent, the maximum permitted by the Government. Much of this is to fund the growing cost of care for the elderly and adults with special needs.
Mr Khan increased bills by £4 in his first year, followed by £14 last year. His 2019/20 budget includes money to tackle gang crime and a new violence reduction unit. There were 135 homicides in London last year.
He said: “This budget has been put together under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. These include the Government’s austerity agenda, with huge cuts to the Met police, TfL and other public services - and the threat of a no-deal Brexit.”
Councils have prioritised child and adult social care at the expense of services such as roads, planning and environment.
Cllr Peter John, chairman of London Councils, said boroughs were facing “huge challenges” due to a 63 per cent cut in core Government funding over the last decade despite a one million rise in the capital’s population.
He said: “Collectively London boroughs are facing a £400 million funding gap in their budgets next year. While historically London boroughs have not increased tax as much as other areas, they are under such financial pressure that they now have no other option.”
Kingston refused to comment.
