Deep dive
Council tax still rests on what homes were worth in 1991
A band is fixed by a home’s value on one day: 1 April 1991 in England and Scotland, 1 April 2003 in Wales. Set each council’s bill beside today’s prices, then see what it would be if bills followed them.
21 Oct 2026 · figures from 7 publishers, each named where its figure is printed and listed in How we worked this out
- Ink is the publisher's own figure, as printed.
- Pencil is our working, always shown beside it.
Main points
- England’s average band D council tax for 2026-27 was £2,391.52 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, published 25 March 2026).
- In Westminster the median house price in the year to September 2025 was £865,000 and band D for 2026-27 was £1,049.55; in Burnley they were £130,000 and £2,549.42 (ONS; MHCLG).
- In Cardiff the median house price in the year to September 2025 was £266,000 and band D for 2026-27 was £2,013.18; in Merthyr Tydfil they were £140,000 and £2,593.60 (ONS; Welsh Government).
- Scotland’s 32 councils set band D for 2026-27 between £1,468.47 in South Lanarkshire and £1,816.16 in Midlothian (Scottish Government, published 31 March 2026).
- In 2025-26 councils collected 95.6% of the year’s council tax in England, 95.33% in Wales and 95.21% in Scotland (Scotland’s is provisional), as each government published it.
- The Valuation Office Agency counted 4,074,300 homes in band D in England and 243,100 in Wales at 31 March 2026 (published 24 September 2026).
I · The bands
A council tax band is fixed by what a home was worth on one day: 1 April 1991 in England and Scotland, 1 April 2003 in Wales. England and Scotland share that date but not the ranges. Wales moved to its later date in 2005 and added a ninth band, I. These ranges are law, not statistics.
Hover or tap a band for its range in law.
Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 5(2) · Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 74(2) · The Council Tax (Valuation Bands) (Wales) Order 2003 (SI 2003/3046)
Each band pays a fixed share of band D. In England the shares are 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 18 ninths; in Wales 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18 and 21. Scotland changed its shares for bands E to H from 2017-18 (The Council Tax (Substitution of Proportion) (Scotland) Order 2016 (SSI 2016/368)).
II · Value against bill
Each dot is a council: its across, its band D bill up. Nothing is fitted. Each nation has its own chart, because band D covers a different range of values in each. Scotland's prices are for 2023, the newest its publisher prints by council.
England, prices in the year to September 2025
Hover or tap a dot for its council.
Wales, prices in the year to September 2025
Hover or tap a dot for its council.
Scotland, prices in 2023
Hover or tap a dot for its council.
Office for National Statistics, House price to residence-based earnings ratio, Tables 1a and 5a (median house price) · Reference: Year ending September 2025 · Released: 26 March 2026
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Tables 3 and 9 · Reference: 2026-27 · Released: 25 March 2026
Welsh Government, Council tax levels by billing authority and band (StatsWales) · Reference: 2026-27 · Released: 24 March 2026
Registers of Scotland, House Prices: Residential Properties Sales and Price, Price - Median (data.gov.scot, first published there 20 August 2026) · Reference: 2023 · Released: 9 September 2026
Scottish Government, Council Tax Datasets: Band D Council Tax rates by year, 1996-97 to 2026-27 · Reference: 2026-27 · Released: 31 March 2026
Westminster's median price was £865,000 and its band D £1,049.55. Burnley's were £130,000 and £2,549.42. In Wales, Cardiff's were £266,000 and £2,013.18; Merthyr Tydfil's £140,000 and £2,593.60. Scotland's charges sit in a narrow range, from £1,468.47 in South Lanarkshire to £1,816.16 in Midlothian.
III · Homes by band
The Valuation Office Agency counts every home on the list by its band. At 31 March 2026 it counted 6,121,370 homes in band A in England and 4,074,300 in band D. Wales had 5,670 homes in band I, a band England and Scotland do not have. The agency rounds each count to the nearest ten.
Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties 2026, table CTSOP1.1 · Reference: 31 March 2026 · Released: 24 September 2026
Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties 2026, table CTSOP1.1 · Reference: 31 March 2026 · Released: 24 September 2026
IV · Every council
Hover or tap an area for its figure, or use the arrow keys.
- £1,028.21 to £2,306.00
- £2,306.43 to £2,405.64
- £2,405.65 to £2,470.25
- £2,471.74 to £2,555.15
- £2,556.40 to £2,765.02
Boundaries: ONS Local Authority Districts May 2025 UK BGC (V2).
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Tables 3 and 9 · Reference: 2026-27 · Released: 25 March 2026
Neighbourhood by neighbourhood, the count of homes in each band is on datamap.uk's map.
Band D homes in Cardiff, by neighbourhoodon datamap.ukV · If bills followed prices
Our estimate · not a published figure
What if a council's band D followed its house prices? We scale the nation's average band D by how the council's median price compares with the nation's. Then we raise each band limit in the nation's own law by the rise in the nation's average price since its own valuation date, and see which band today's median falls in. Hover or tap a coloured figure for its working.
Westminster's band D is £1,049.55. If it followed house prices it would be , a difference of more a year.
England's average price is what it was on 1 April 1991. With every limit raised by that much, Westminster's median of £865,000 would be in .
Nobody has published these figures; they are ours.
VI · What has been proposed
Several reviews have asked whether council tax should change. Each is quoted in its own words; none is modelled here.
“We believe that a system of land value tax is promising”
The Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Annex B of a Scottish Government FOI release), December 2015
“Replace council tax with a progressive property tax with surcharges on second and empty properties”
The Resolution Foundation’s Intergenerational Commission, A New Generational Contract, May 2018
“A local LVT in Wales could raise sufficient revenues to replace the current local taxes.”
Bangor University, for the Welsh Government, A technical assessment of the potential for a local land value tax in Wales, 18 March 2020
What this doesn't tell you
- A median price is for homes that sold, which may not be like the homes in a council as a whole.
- Band D is one band. Most homes are in other bands, and discounts change what a household pays.
- Scotland's council medians are for 2023, England's and Wales's for the year to September 2025. They are never set on one chart.
- Scotland's assessors count homes in grouped bands, so Scotland has no chart of homes by band here.
- Our estimate keeps each nation's total the same. A real revaluation could raise or lower it.
- Northern Ireland has domestic rates, not council tax, and is not covered.
How we worked this out
Every figure outside the estimate is one its publisher printed, held from the publisher's own file at the position it was read from. The estimate's two steps are shown beside each figure: a council's band D is the nation's average band D × the council's median price ÷ the nation's median price; a band limit is the law's limit × the nation's average price now ÷ its average price at the valuation date. Each nation is read against its own law and its own figures.
Sources
| Source | Reference | Released | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
HM Land Registry UK House Price Index full file, July 2026 edition (column AveragePrice) Average price for each nation at its own valuation date and at the close of its median’s year, which our estimate uses; read from UK-HPI-full-file-2026-07.csv (sha256 654a541934ba…) on 2026-10-21 | April to June 1991 (England, Scotland), April 2003 (Wales), December 2023 (Scotland), September 2025 (England, Wales) | 16 September 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Tables 3 and 9 Band D council tax for each English billing authority (Table 9) and England’s average (Table 3); read from Tables_1-9_2026-27.ods (sha256 66b7c20f70c8…) on 2026-10-21 | 2026-27 | 25 March 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Scottish Government Council Tax Datasets: Band D Council Tax rates by year, 1996-97 to 2026-27 Band D council tax set by each Scottish council, and Scotland’s row; read from CTAS+2026+-+Council+Tax+Assumptions+-+Band+D+Council+Tax+rates+by+year+-+1996-97+to+2026-27.xlsx (sha256 4e56c3331787…) on 2026-10-21 | 2026-27 | 31 March 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Welsh Government Council tax levels by billing authority and band (StatsWales) Band D council tax for each Welsh billing authority, and the Welsh total; read as StatsWales serves its current revision, whose publication date is held beside it; read from download.csv (sha256 8180ad31e08b…) on 2026-10-21 | 2026-27 | 24 March 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Office for National Statistics House price to residence-based earnings ratio, Tables 1a and 5a (median house price) Median price paid for a home in each council in England and Wales (Table 5a), and for each nation (Table 1a); read from aff2ratioofhousepricetoresidencebasedearnings.xlsx (sha256 e4490e1534c3…) on 2026-10-21 | Year ending September 2025 | 26 March 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Registers of Scotland House Prices: Residential Properties Sales and Price, Price - Median (data.gov.scot, first published there 20 August 2026) Median price of a home sold in each Scottish council, and in Scotland, in 2023; read from download (sha256 702c9ada0b26…) on 2026-10-21 | 2023 | 9 September 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Collection rates for Council Tax and non-domestic rates in England, 2025 to 2026, Table 9a (revised; first published 24 June 2026) England’s in-year council tax collection rate; read from Table_9_2025-26.ods (sha256 3937351a67bd…) on 2026-10-21 | 2025-26 | 31 July 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Scottish Government Council Tax Collection Statistics 2025-26, publication tables, Figure 3 (provisional) Scotland’s in-year council tax collection rate; read from council-tax-collection-statistics-2025-26-publication-tables.xlsx (sha256 3407ea125aad…) on 2026-10-21 | 2025-26 | 16 June 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Welsh Government Council tax collection rates and receipts by authority (StatsWales) Wales’s in-year council tax collection rate; read from download.csv (sha256 b2da213d4f1d…) on 2026-10-21 | 2025-26 | 11 June 2026 | Dataset Data file |
Valuation Office Agency Council Tax: stock of properties 2026, table CTSOP1.1 Homes in each council tax band, England and Wales, each nation’s row; read from CTSOP_1_1.zip (sha256 a59b842ae151…) on 2026-10-21 | 31 March 2026 | 24 September 2026 | Dataset Data file |
The law and the documents quoted
- legislation.gov.uk, Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 5(2) · Royal Assent 6 March 1992
- legislation.gov.uk, Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 74(2) · Royal Assent 6 March 1992
- legislation.gov.uk, The Council Tax (Valuation Bands) (Wales) Order 2003 (SI 2003/3046) · Made 2003, in force from 1 April 2005
- legislation.gov.uk, The Council Tax (Substitution of Proportion) (Scotland) Order 2016 (SSI 2016/368) · Made 8 November 2016
- Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Annex B of a Scottish Government FOI release) · Published December 2015
- Resolution Foundation’s Intergenerational Commission, A New Generational Contract · Published May 2018
- Bangor University, for the Welsh Government, A technical assessment of the potential for a local land value tax in Wales · Published 18 March 2020