Nearly all London boroughs are set to impose the maximum allowed council tax increase from April, as local authorities grapple with ongoing funding pressures.
Twenty-eight London boroughs plus the City of London will implement the full 4.99 per cent rise for the 2025-26 financial year.
Wandsworth residents will see their bills rise by just two per cent, while Kensington and Chelsea has settled on a four per cent increase.
Barnet Council will implement a 4.98 per cent rise, marginally below the maximum threshold. The increases come as councils across the capital face what they describe as "severe funding shortages" and rising demand for statutory services.
The 4.99 per cent cap, which includes a two per cent rise specifically for adult social care, has remained in place for three consecutive years.
Newham Council has been granted an exceptional increase of 8.99 per cent for the coming year.
This unusually high rise was authorised by central government after the council applied for extra support due to housing pressures from temporary accommodation.
Normally, any council wishing to raise tax beyond the 4.99 per cent cap must hold a local referendum to approve the increase.
Council tax risesGOV.UKHowever, central government can authorise higher increases in special circumstances without requiring a public vote.
Seven London boroughs will also receive Exceptional Financial Support loans totalling more than £418million for the next financial year.
These emergency borrowing measures have been criticised by London Councils, which warns they place "a burden on boroughs of further debts" without restoring financial stability.
London Councils, which represents the capital's local authorities, says boroughs now receive about 28 per cent less funding per Londoner compared to 2010.
The umbrella organisation is calling for council funding to be restored to 2010 levels by 2028-29.
Council tax receipts have skyrocketed in recent years GETTY This would require real-terms increases of four per cent every year.
The funding crisis has led to substantial overspends in London council budgets in recent years.
This has been driven by fast-rising demand for statutory services - where boroughs have a legal duty to provide support.
The increasing cost of delivering these essential services has further strained council finances.
London Councils has warned that emergency loans will not be sufficient to address the underlying financial challenges.
The 4.99 per cent cap on council tax rises in England has been maintained by the government to protect taxpayers from excessive increases.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said councils 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," they added.
The Local Government Association, representing councils across England, highlighted that local authorities face "severe funding shortages and soaring cost and demand pressures on local services".
They said councils had to make a "tough choice" about increasing bills to bring in "desperately-needed" funds.
Largest council tax rises"However, while council tax is an important funding stream, the significant financial pressures facing local services cannot be met by council tax income alone," the spokesperson added.
"The Spending Review needs to ensure councils have adequate funding to deliver the services local people want to see."
Full list of confirmed top-tier council tax rises in England for 2024/25 and 2023/24, sourced from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
County councils
- Cambridgeshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.98 per cent)
- Derbyshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.75 per cent)
- Devon 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- East Sussex 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Essex 3.75 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.50 per cent)
- Gloucestershire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hampshire 4.995 per cent (2024/25: 4.998 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hertfordshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Kent 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.995 per cent)
- Lancashire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.99 per cent)
- Leicestershire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Lincolnshire 2.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Norfolk 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Nottinghamshire 4.84 per cent (2024/25: 4.84 per cent 2023/24: 4.84 per cent)
- Oxfordshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Staffordshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Suffolk 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.00 per cent)
- Surrey 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 2.99 per cent)
- Warwickshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.996 per cent 2023/24: 3.94 per cent)
- West Sussex 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Worcestershire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.94 per cent)
London
- Barking & Dagenham 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Barnet 4.98 per cent (2024/25: 4.98 per cent 2023/24: 3.80 per cent)
- Bexley 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Brent 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Bromley 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Camden 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- City of London 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Croydon 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 14.99 per cent)
- Ealing 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Enfield 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Greenwich 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hackney 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hammersmith & Fulham 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.80 per cent)
- Haringey 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Harrow 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Havering 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hillingdon 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hounslow 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Islington 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Kensington & Chelsea 4.00 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 2.18 per cent)
- Kingston-upon-Thames 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Lambeth 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Lewisham 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Merton 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.999 per cent 2023/24: 4.999 per cent)
- Newham 8.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Redbridge 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Richmond-upon-Thames 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Southwark 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Sutton 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Tower Hamlets 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 2.00 per cent)
- Waltham Forest 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Wandsworth 2.00 per cent (2024/25: 2.09 per cent 2023/24: 2.14 per cent)
- Westminster 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.98 per cent 2023/24: 2.01 per cent)
Metropolitan Boroughs
- Barnsley 4.90 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.90 per cent)
- Birmingham 7.49 per cent (2024/25: 9.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Bolton 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.99 per cent)
- Bradford 9.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Bury 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Calderdale 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Coventry 4.90 per cent (2024/25: 4.94 per cent 2023/24: 4.94 per cent)
- Doncaster 3.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.99 per cent)
- Dudley 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Gateshead 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Kirklees 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Knowsley 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Leeds 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.98 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Liverpool 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Manchester 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.99 per cent)
- North Tyneside 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Oldham 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.99 per cent)
- Rochdale 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Rotherham 3.00 per cent (2024/25: 3.50 per cent 2023/24: 4.00 per cent)
- Salford 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Sandwell 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Sefton 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Sheffield 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Solihull 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- South Tyneside 4.95 per cent (2024/25: 4.95 per cent 2023/24: 4.95 per cent)
- St Helens 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Stockport 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.99 per cent)
- Sunderland 4.49 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 2.99 per cent)
- Tameside 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Trafford 7.49 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Wakefield 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Walsall 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 2.99 per cent)
- Wigan 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Wirral 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Wolverhampton 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
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 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Bedford 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 2.90 per cent)
- Blackburn with Darwen 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Blackpool 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Bracknell Forest 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Brighton & Hove 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Bristol 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Buckinghamshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.98 per cent 2023/24: 4.9997 per cent)
- Central Bedfordshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 0 per cent)
- Cheshire East 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Cheshire West & Chester 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Cornwall 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Cumberland 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: n/a)
- Darlington 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Derby 3.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Dorset 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.996 per cent 2023/24: 4.00 per cent)
- Durham 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- East Riding of Yorkshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.98 per cent)
- Halton 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hartlepool 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 2.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.90 per cent)
- Herefordshire 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Hull 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Isle of Wight 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Isles of Scilly 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Leicester 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.999 per cent 2023/24: 4.998 per cent)
- Luton 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Medway 4.994 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
- Middlesbrough 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 3.99 per cent)
- Milton Keynes 4.99 per cent (2024/25: 4.99 per cent 2023/24: 4.99 per cent)
