In 2025, nearly 90% of councils in England are set to implement a 4.99% increase in council tax, the maximum allowed without triggering a local referendum. This marks a continuation of rising costs for households, with many local authorities opting for the highest permitted increase for the third consecutive year.
According to DevonLive, these tax hikes are a result of ongoing financial pressures faced by councils across the country, which are struggling to balance their budgets while maintaining essential services.
Widespread Increases Across England
The decision to raise council tax by the full 4.99% is being adopted by 88% of upper-tier local authorities across England. This includes areas like Hampshire, Hertfordshire, and West Sussex. However, some councils have opted for smaller increases. For example, Wandsworth in London has approved a 2.00% rise, the lowest in the country. The council stated,
Sound financial management is at the heart of everything we do.
They further emphasised on their website,
Wandsworth has one of the lowest levels of debt and some of the highest financial reserves in London, allowing us to freeze the main element of council tax and invest in what matters most.
On the other hand, a few councils have been granted the authority to raise taxes beyond the 4.99% cap due to severe financial challenges. Newham and Bradford, for instance, have received permission to increase council tax to 8.99%. Similarly, Birmingham and Trafford will see their bills rise by 7.49%, higher than the statutory cap.
Local Variations and Higher Increases
The variance in council tax rises is stark. While the majority of councils adhere to the 4.99% increase, a few are permitted to go above this threshold. This has been particularly true for financially struggling areas.
For example, the financial pressure in cities like Birmingham has forced authorities to approve a 7.49% rise. These higher increases were authorized by the government as part of a broader strategy to help local authorities balance their budgets amidst ongoing funding issues.
Somerset, which is facing similar financial difficulties, has expressed concerns about the financial burdens on residents. The council’s leader, Bill Revans, said that while the ability to raise taxes beyond the usual cap has been beneficial, it is
Not a solution to local government finance – He noted,
It is, of course, welcome because we want to be able to manage our own affairs. But at the same time, it’s incredibly difficult because ultimately our residents are having to pay more, and at a time when they are seeing fewer services because the services go to those people most in need of adults and children’s social care.
The Impact on Local Services and Residents
As councils struggle with rising costs, many have had to choose between increasing taxes or cutting essential services. Bill Revans’ comments highlight the difficulties faced by local authorities as they try to balance the budget while minimizing the impact on residents.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that many services are increasingly focused on the most vulnerable members of society, especially in areas like adult and children’s social care.
Furthermore, local leaders are calling for a reevaluation of the council tax system. Bristol City Council leader Tony Dyer argued that the current property bands for taxation were based on 1991 valuations, and are therefore outdated.
The first thing that needs to happen straight away is the revaluation of the various bands – he said
Dyer also pointed out that many residents, especially those in lower council tax bands, are struggling to meet their payments. He further noted,
In Bristol, we have a council tax reduction scheme which is costing us £43 million pounds a year with no support from the government to provide that.
The Role of Government Support and Future Considerations
While local authorities are responsible for setting their own council tax levels, the government has reiterated that councils must prioritize taxpayers and consider the impact of their decisions. A Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government spokesperson stated,
While councils are ultimately responsible for setting their own council tax levels, we are clear that they should put taxpayers first and carefully consider the impact of their decisions. That’s why we are maintaining a referendum threshold on council tax rises, so taxpayers can have the final say and be protected from excessive increases.
In response to these growing financial pressures, the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils across England, called for more substantial government support. A spokesperson for the LGA said :
Councils continue to face severe funding shortages and soaring cost and demand pressures on local services. This means that many councils have faced the tough choice about whether to increase bills to bring in desperately-needed funding to provide services at a time when they are acutely aware of the significant burden that could place on some households.
The LGA also emphasised that council tax, while essential, cannot meet all the funding needs of local services :
While council tax is an important funding stream, the significant financial pressures facing local services cannot be met by council tax income alone. It also raises different amounts in different parts of the country – unrelated to need. The Spending Review needs to ensure councils have adequate funding to deliver the services local people want to see.
Council Tax Increases by Region
Here is a list of council tax increases for 2025/26 by region, with figures for the previous years of 2023/24 and 2024/25 sourced from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government:
County Councils :
- Cambridgeshire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.98%)
- Derbyshire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 3.75%)
- Devon: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- East Sussex: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Essex: 3.75% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 3.50%)
- Gloucestershire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hampshire: 4.995% (2024/25: 4.998%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hertfordshire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Kent: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.995%)
- Lancashire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 3.99%)
- Leicestershire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Lincolnshire: 2.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Norfolk: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Nottinghamshire: 4.84% (2024/25: 4.84%, 2023/24: 4.84%)
- Oxfordshire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Staffordshire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Suffolk: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.00%)
- Surrey: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 2.99%)
- Warwickshire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.996%, 2023/24: 3.94%)
- West Sussex: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Worcestershire: 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99%, 2023/24: 4.94%)
London :
- Barking & Dagenham 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Barnet 4.98% (2024/25: 4.98% 2023/24: 3.80%)
- Bexley 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Brent 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Bromley 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Camden 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- City of London 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Croydon 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 14.99%)
- Ealing 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Enfield 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Greenwich 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hackney 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hammersmith & Fulham 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.80%)
- Haringey 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Harrow 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Havering 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hillingdon 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hounslow 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Islington 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Kensington & Chelsea 4.00% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 2.18%)
- Kingston-upon-Thames 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Lambeth 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Lewisham 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Merton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.999% 2023/24: 4.999%)
- Newham 8.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Redbridge 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Richmond-upon-Thames 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Southwark 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Sutton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Tower Hamlets 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 2.00%)
- Waltham Forest 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Wandsworth 2.00% (2024/25: 2.09% 2023/24: 2.14%)
- Westminster 4.99% (2024/25: 4.98% 2023/24: 2.01%)
- – Metropolitan boroughs
- Barnsley 4.90% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.90%)
- Birmingham 7.49% (2024/25: 9.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Bolton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.99%)
- Bradford 9.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Bury 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Calderdale 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Coventry 4.90% (2024/25: 4.94% 2023/24: 4.94%)
- Doncaster 3.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.99%)
- Dudley 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Gateshead 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Kirklees 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Knowsley 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Leeds 4.99% (2024/25: 4.98% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Liverpool 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Manchester 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.99%)
- North Tyneside 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Oldham 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.99%)
- Rochdale 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Rotherham 3.00% (2024/25: 3.50% 2023/24: 4.00%)
- Salford 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Sandwell 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Sefton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Sheffield 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Solihull 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- South Tyneside 4.95% (2024/25: 4.95% 2023/24: 4.95%)
- St Helens 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Stockport 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.99%)
- Sunderland 4.49% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 2.99%)
- Tameside 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Trafford 7.49% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Wakefield 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Walsall 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 2.99%)
- Wigan 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Wirral 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Wolverhampton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
Unitary Authorities
- (Note: where figures for 2023/24 are n/a, this is because the authority did not then exist in its current form)
- Bath & North East Somerset 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Bedford 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 2.90%)
- Blackburn with Darwen 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Blackpool 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Bracknell Forest 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Brighton & Hove 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Bristol 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Buckinghamshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.98% 2023/24: 4.9997%)
- Central Bedfordshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 0%)
- Cheshire East 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Cheshire West & Chester 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Cornwall 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Cumberland 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: n/a)
- Darlington 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Derby 3.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Dorset 4.99% (2024/25: 4.996% 2023/24: 4.00%)
- Durham 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- East Riding of Yorkshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.98%)
- Halton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hartlepool 4.99% (2024/25: 2.99% 2023/24: 4.90%)
- Herefordshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Hull 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Isle of Wight 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Isles of Scilly 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Leicester 4.99% (2024/25: 4.999% 2023/24: 4.998%)
- Luton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Medway 4.994% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Middlesbrough 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.99%)
- Milton Keynes 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- North East Lincolnshire 3.98% (2024/25: 4.98% 2023/24: 3.98%)
- North Lincolnshire 4.89% (2024/25: 3.73% 2023/24: 1.74%)
- North Northamptonshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- North Somerset 4.99% (2024/25: 4.98% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- North Yorkshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: n/a)
- Northumberland 4.99% (2024/25: 4.59% 2023/24: 4.63%)
- Nottingham 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Peterborough 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Plymouth 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Portsmouth 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Reading 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Redcar & Cleveland 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 3.99%)
- Rutland 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Shropshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Slough 4.99% (2024/25: 8.50% 2023/24: 9.99%)
- Somerset 7.49% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: n/a)
- South Gloucestershire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Southampton 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Southend-on-Sea 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Stockton-on-Tees 4.95% (2024/25: 4.95% 2023/24: 4.90%)
- Stoke-on-Trent 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Swindon 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Telford & Wrekin 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 2.00%)
- Thurrock 4.99% (2024/25: 7.98% 2023/24: 9.99%)
- Torbay 4.75% (2024/25: 4.75% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Warrington 4.98% (2024/25: 4.98% 2023/24: 4.98%)
- West Berkshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- West Northamptonshire 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- Westmorland & Furness 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: n/a)
- Wiltshire 4.50% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
