England’s highest council tax bills, mapped

Households in Rutland, Nottingham and Dorset are paying the highest council tax bills in England this year, according to analysis of Government figures.

In Rutland, England’s smallest county, Band D households will pay £2,543 in 2024/25, up 5 per cent from the previous year.

In Nottingham, where the council issued a section 114 notice declaring effective bankruptcy last November, Band D households will pay £2,530 – an increase of 4.9 per cent.

And in Dorset, households face council tax bills amounting to £2,504 – an increase of £116, or 4.9 per cent, on 2023/24.

The analysis of data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, carried out by rebate experts RIFT, put Lewes in the South East close behind, with average households paying £2,503, while in Wealden, Band D bills will add up to £2,484.

It comes after cash-strapped local authorities exercised their powers to increase council tax bills for millions of households across England and Wales on 1 April.

Most local authorities increased bills in April by 4.99% (Photo: Shaun Wilkinson/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Councils with social care duties can raise tax each year by 4.99 per cent without triggering a referendum.

The Government data shows nearly every authority raised council tax by 4 per cent or more. It means the average Band D household in England is paying an additional £106 in council tax compared to previous year.

Citizens Advice said council tax was increasing the burden on “huge waves of people who don’t have enough money to make ends meet”.

Morgan Wild, its interim director of policy, also said people were struggling to access Council Tax Support, describing the system that should reduce bills for those on low incomes as a “broken postcode lottery”.

Local authorities have increasingly relied on council tax to raise revenue over the past decade due to a drop in funding from central Government. But some are still struggling and are making cuts to local services.

The areas in England that saw the highest year-on-year increase to council tax bills last month were administrated by cash-strapped councils, like Nottingham, that have issued section 114 notices.

These notices prevent new expenditure, except on statutory services such as those safeguarding vulnerable people, and allow councils to increase tax above the standard limit of 4.99 percent.

In Birmingham, which issued a 114 notice in September, council tax rose by 9.3 per cent in April for Band D households, taking bills to £2,091, an increase of £178.

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In Slough, which declared bankruptcy in 2021, Band D households saw a 7.9 per cent rise, pushing up bills to £2,187, an increase of £159.

And in Thurrock, which issued a section 114 in 2022, average bills are up 7.5 per cent to £2,041, a hike of £142.

According to the Local Government Association, the national membership body for local authorities in England and Wales, councils were hit by a 60 per cent reduction in Westminster funding between 2010 and 2020, which fell from £41bn to £26bn.

The areas with the lowest council tax rates were all London boroughs, which take advantage of alternative methods to raise revenue, such as parking charges and business rates.

Wandsworth residents face the cheapest bills in England, at just £969 annually.

i has contacted the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for comment.