Check any UK property's
Council Tax band.
Plain-English UK council tax data. Look up your band, compare neighbours, and find your billing authority's annual charges. Free, independent, sourced directly from the Valuation Office Agency.
- Properties
- 28.6M
- Billing authorities
- 371
- Bands
- 8
- Data since
- 1993
Distribution of Council Tax Bands across England
A quarter of English dwellings are in Band A. Less than 1% are in Band H. The 1991 valuation framework still anchors all of this.
About This Data
PlainCouncilTax compiles the UK's complete public council tax record into a searchable archive. We cover roughly 26 million dwellings in England and Wales via the Valuation Office Agency's published council tax list, plus another 2.6 million Scottish dwellings via the Scottish Assessors Association. Each property carries a band letter (A through H in England and Scotland; A through I in Wales) reflecting a snapshot of its 1991 open-market value (1 April 1991 in England and Scotland; 1 April 2003 in Wales). The bands have not been revalued since.
The portal cross-references VOA bands with each billing authority's published annual charge schedule, so a Band C dwelling in Manchester sits next to its Manchester City Council charge for the current financial year, the precepting major-authority components (Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Greater Manchester police, mayoral, and fire), and the year-on-year change. Guides cover how to challenge a band, who qualifies for single-person and disabled-band reduction discounts, and what to do when a bill is unaffordable.
Editorial Guides
In-depth explainers covering the council tax system end to end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PlainCouncilTax?
PlainCouncilTax is a free, independent data portal that publishes UK council tax band lookups and annual billing-authority charges. We compile the public Valuation Office Agency (VOA) council tax list together with each council's published annual charge tables, then organise them into searchable, comparable pages. All data is sourced directly from official UK government publications and updated when the VOA refreshes its list (typically annually each April).
Where does the data come from?
Property band data comes from the VOA's published council tax list (gov.uk) for England and Wales, and from the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) portal for Scotland. Annual charge tables come from each billing authority's published council tax schedule, which authorities are statutorily required to publish each March under the Local Government Finance Act 1992. We compile both sources without modifying the underlying values.
Is this data free to use?
Yes. All band lookups, comparisons, and guides on PlainCouncilTax are completely free. There are no paywalls, account requirements, or subscription fees. The underlying VOA list is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and billing authority charge tables are published as statutorily required public information. See our methodology page for details on sourcing and processing.
How often is the data updated?
The VOA refreshes its council tax list continuously as properties are added, demolished, or have their bands altered. We re-import the list at least quarterly. Annual charge tables are refreshed each April, when authorities publish the next financial year's rates. The data vintage stamp on every page shows the snapshot date used to render that page.
Can I challenge my council tax band?
Yes. The VOA accepts formal proposals to alter a band — you can submit one yourself, free of charge, without an agent. Our challenging-your-band guide walks through the proposal grounds, the evidence the VOA looks for, and what to expect from the review timeline. Note that bands can be revised up as well as down following a proposal, so check comparable nearby properties before submitting.
Editorial research & rankings
Biggest year-on-year increases 2025/26
Year-on-year rate-of-change ranking across UK billing authorities — referendum-cap and adult-social-care precept context.
Highest Band H charges 2025/26
Top-end Band H charges — 18/9 of Band D multiplier on highest-value 1991 properties.
Top councils by Band D charge
Reference-band ranking — the statutory headline rate each council sets annually.
Highest Band H rankings 2025
Annual Band H charge ranking.
Highest Band D 2025
Reference-band ranking sorted by absolute charge.
Biggest YoY increases
2024/25 → 2025/26 rate-of-change ranking.