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Council tax by city in England 2026 to 2027: Band A, D and H compared

Council tax by city in England for 2026 to 2027: Band A, Band D and Band H charges for 15 major cities from MHCLG figures, with Liverpool, Nottingham and Leeds.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 6

The figures for 15 cities

General information, not advice. The table uses Table 9 of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publication "Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027", published on 25 March 2026. It gives the council tax for a home occupied by two adults in each billing authority, by band. MHCLG says the figures include parish precepts and adult social care precepts. The cities are shown from the highest Band D charge to the lowest, among those chosen.

City (billing authority)	Band A	Band D	Band H
Nottingham	£1,836.93	£2,755.39	£5,510.78
Bristol	£1,809.12	£2,713.68	£5,427.36
Oxford	£1,785.60	£2,678.40	£5,356.80
Liverpool	£1,782.39	£2,673.59	£5,347.18
Reading	£1,741.85	£2,612.77	£5,225.54
Brighton and Hove	£1,720.36	£2,580.54	£5,161.08
Newcastle upon Tyne	£1,694.79	£2,542.19	£5,084.38
Leicester	£1,685.83	£2,528.75	£5,057.50
Coventry	£1,677.81	£2,516.72	£5,033.44
Sheffield	£1,673.44	£2,510.16	£5,020.32
Birmingham	£1,575.27	£2,362.90	£4,725.80
Manchester	£1,541.36	£2,312.04	£4,624.08
Derby	£1,537.33	£2,306.00	£4,612.00
Kingston upon Hull	£1,530.03	£2,295.04	£4,590.08
Leeds	£1,522.49	£2,283.73	£4,567.46

Source: MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Table 9, figures for the 2026 to 2027 financial year (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027). Wales and Scotland are not covered because they set council tax under their own systems.

Part 2 of 6

What the table shows

The gap between the top and the bottom of the table is large. Nottingham's Band D is £471.66 above Leeds's, which is the difference between the two ends of the 15 cities above, not of all England. Liverpool's Band D of £2,673.59 is £389.86 above Leeds's. The England average Band D, including parish and adult social care precepts, is £2,391.52 for 2026 to 2027 according to MHCLG's Table 3, so Nottingham, Bristol, Oxford, Liverpool, Reading, Brighton and Hove, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leicester, Coventry and Sheffield are above it in the table and Birmingham, Manchester, Derby, Hull and Leeds are below it.

Across all 296 billing authorities in the same table, the lowest Band D is Wandsworth at £1,028.21 and the highest is Dorset at £2,765.02. Nottingham, at £2,755.39, is close to the top.

Part 3 of 6

How to read your own band

A Band D charge is the reference point. MHCLG's note to Table 9 gives the ratios of the other bands to Band D: A is 6/9, B 7/9, C 8/9, E 11/9, F 13/9, G 15/9 and H 18/9. That is why Band A in Liverpool (£1,782.39) is two thirds of its Band D, and Band H is twice its Band D. Find your band on GOV.UK or with our council tax band checker, then use the ratio, or the A and H columns above for those cities. Our guide to council tax bands explained covers how bands are set and when a band can change.

Part 4 of 6

Why the same band costs different amounts

The band is set by the home's value on a fixed date and is the same rule everywhere in England. The charge is not. Each billing authority sets its own Band D charge, and the figure also includes any parish precept and adult social care precept, as MHCLG's note to Table 9 says. MHCLG's notes for 2026 to 2027 add that some authorities had a higher referendum limit that year, for example up to 9% for North Somerset and Shropshire and up to 7.5% for Trafford, Warrington and Windsor and Maidenhead. Those limits apply to increases, not to the level of the charge.

Part 5 of 6

Caveats before you rely on a figure

A city is not always one billing authority. We matched cities to authorities only where the names are the same. A city like Halifax sits under Calderdale and we have not shown it.
Parish precepts differ inside an authority. Table 9 is an area figure. A particular street in a parished area may pay a little more or less than the figure shown.
Discounts and exemptions are not included. The figures are for a home with two adults. A single occupier discount, a student exemption or an empty-home premium changes the bill; see our guide to council tax on second and empty homes.
The figures change every April. The next publication will replace these.

Part 6 of 6

Why this matters when buying

Council tax is a running cost that does not appear in the asking price. Two homes in the same band can cost very different amounts a year to run once the authority is different, which is worth checking next to the stamp duty and other costs on our moving costs page. For a postcode-level view of an area, see areas.

This page is general information, not advice.

Our take

Check your own band before you compare cities

City figures make Band D easy to compare, with Nottingham at £2,755.39 and Leeds at £2,283.73 for 2026 to 2027. We think buyers should put the annual charge into their budget before they offer, because the same band costs different amounts in different places.

Your Property Check adds the wider picture. OfferCheck is a plain-English risk report on any UK address before you offer: crime, flood, planning, tenure and more, every figure sourced. The snapshot is free, and our council tax band checker is free too.

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Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

How much is council tax in Liverpool?

For 2026 to 2027, Liverpool's Band D is £2,673.59, Band A is £1,782.39 and Band H is £5,347.18, from MHCLG's Table 9. These include parish and adult social care precepts and assume two adults in the home.

What is the Band D charge in Leeds?

Leeds's Band D for 2026 to 2027 is £2,283.73, which is below the England average Band D of £2,391.52 that MHCLG gives in Table 3.

Which city has the highest council tax?

Of the 15 cities in our table, Nottingham has the highest Band D at £2,755.39. Across all 296 billing authorities in the same table, Dorset is highest at £2,765.02.

Why do bands differ by council?

The band depends on the home's value on a fixed date, but each billing authority sets its own Band D charge, and precepts are added. Other bands are fixed ratios of Band D, such as 6/9 for Band A.

Do these figures include Wales and Scotland?

No. They cover England only. Wales and Scotland set council tax under their own systems and publish their own figures.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.