Council tax bills in Great Britain rise by 5% for third year in a row

(Alliance News) - Council tax bill rises in Great Britain will hit 5% in April for the third year ...

Alliance News 20 March, 2025 | 11:52AM
Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

(Alliance News) - Council tax bill rises in Great Britain will hit 5% in April for the third year in a row, as almost all councils increase bills up to, or close to, the maximum permitted, government figures confirm.

The average annual band D bill, the standard measure of council tax, will be GBP2,280 including all precepts this year, an increase of GBP109 on 2024-25 and 20% rise on 2021-22, when the average bill was GBP1,898.

With 384 lower and upper tier councils subject to referendum principles, which allow them to raise the levy by 4.99% without triggering a local referendum, 293 opted to hit the threshold and 56 chose to go close to the maximum.

This means 91% of 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.

Council tax bills on average have increased by 5.1% in the previous two years.

Of the 153 councils with social care responsibilities, 147 imposed the full 2% adult social care precept, with the remaining six applying some of the precept.

There is variation in average council tax bills across different types of councils.

In London boroughs, the average council tax bill will be GBP1,982 – an increase of GBP89 or 4.7% on last year.

This means households in the capital will have the lowest average bills and the smallest cash increases in 2025-26.

Meanwhile, metropolitan areas outside, which include many less affluent areas in the Midlands and the north of England, will have the largest percentage and cash increase of 5.6% and GBP121 respectively, taking bills to GBP2,289.

Unitary areas, which tend to be larger and do not include lower tier districts, will have the highest average bill of GBP2,366, an increase of GBP118 (5.2%), while households in shire counties will see a 4.8% increase of GBP106, taking bills to GBP2,344.

The overall council requirement calculated for all councils in England in 2025-26 is GBP44.1 billion, a jump of GBP2.9 billion, or 7.0%, on 2024-25 levels.

This requirement has rise by 28% since 2021-22 when the figure was 34,437.

Average area band D council tax ranges from GBP998 in Wandsworth, south London, to GBP2,671 in Rutland, with 73% of authorities having an area average band D between GBP2,200 and GBP2,500.

Shadow local government secretary Kevin Hollinrake, said: "This Labour government is driving up costs for councils across the country with their jobs tax.

"It's no surprise they have raised council tax by 5%, with the highest increases by Labour and Liberal Democrat councils.

"We are the only ones standing up to a dreadful Labour government determined to crush businesses, raise your taxes and trash the economy.

"This has been engineered by Labour, who have left town halls to foot the blame when record bills hit the doormat. Vote Conservative on May 1 for a vote against [Prime Minister] Keir Starmer.

By Jonathan Bunn, PA Political Reporter

Press Association: News

source: PA

Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

About Author

Alliance News

Alliance News provides Morningstar with continuously updating coverage of news affecting listed companies.

© Copyright 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures