Council tax to rise for most people in England - see the full list of increases
17 March 2025, 08:09 | Updated: 17 March 2025, 10:52
Council tax is set to increase for a majority of households in England after all councils confirmed their plans.
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Nearly nine in 10 (88%) of 153 upper-tier authorities in England will impose a 4.99% increase this year, the most allowed without triggering a local referendum.
If councils increasing bills by 4.5% or more in April are included in the tally, the proportion increases to more than nine in 10 (94%).
For just over two-thirds (68%) of top-tier authorities, it will be the third year in a row that bills have gone up by at least the maximum legal amount, according to an analysis.
By contrast, just nine councils are boosting bills by less than 4.5% this year.
Lewis Goodall on council tax increases and NI cuts
Sunderland has chosen a 4.49% increase, Kensington & Chelsea in London 4.00%, Doncaster and Derby have both opted for 3.99%, while North East Lincolnshire will increase bills by 3.98%.
Council tax in Essex will rise by 3.75% and in Rotherham by 3.00%.
Lincolnshire will boost bills by 2.99% while Wandsworth in London has approved the lowest increase in England of 2.00%, representing a freeze on the main element of council tax for the third year in a row.
The council said "sound financial management is at the heart of everything we do."
A vast majority of residents in England continue to face maximum council tax increases, however.
Keir Starmer declines to give a straight answer on council tax
The 4.99% cap, which includes a 2% adult social care precept, has been in place over the last three years.
While 68% of upper-tier councils have raised council tax by the maximum in each of the past three years, 84% have done so in both 2025/26 and 2024/25.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "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."
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association, which represents councils across England, 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.
"However, 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."
Full list of council tax changes
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%)
- Windsor & Maidenhead 8.99% (2024/25: 4.96% 2023/24: 4.96%)
- Wokingham 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
- York 4.99% (2024/25: 4.99% 2023/24: 4.99%)
