Ashford Council Tax 2026

How to read this stock pattern

Ashford's largest property group sits in the lower half of the valuation ladder rather than at the Band D reference used in national tables. Its modal Band B charge is seven-ninths of the Band D rate, and 53.8% of the published stock lies below D. The headline alone does not show how often each band occurs. The stock-weighted amount applies the full distribution for an area-level comparison, while remaining an average rather than a household quotation.

Ashford has a broad valuation-band profile: the largest 3 groups are needed before the cumulative share passes half of the stock. No single band dominates the local picture, which makes a one-band headline especially incomplete. The weighted result is useful for comparing this authority with peers, but the spread across 8 published bands matters just as much. A broad mix also means the area-level mean is less representative of any one household than it is in a concentrated council.

Ashford occupies the middle half of the South East stock-weighted distribution, below its £2,511.00 median. The regional result gives more context than a UK-wide rank without turning the difference into a superlative. It also shows that the council's band mix, not only its published Band D rate, determines where it sits among nearby authorities. The remaining distance from the median is an area-level comparison rather than a household saving or premium.

Closest housing-stock shape: Bath & North East Somerset

Bath & North East Somerset is the closest full-distribution match for Ashford. The profiles are close rather than identical: 5.2% of dwellings would need to shift between valuation bands for their published shares to align. The comparison therefore tests the whole ladder, not just the largest band.

Four largest band differences

• The largest separation appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band F. Ashford places 10.5% of dwellings there versus 6.9% for Bath & North East Somerset, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
• Another material separation sits at lower Band A, where Bath & North East Somerset holds 10.9% of its stock and Ashford holds 7.4%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
• A smaller distinction sits at lower Band C, where Bath & North East Somerset holds 24.5% of its stock and Ashford holds 23.1%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
• A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band B: Ashford has 23.4% of dwellings there, against 22.5% in Bath & North East Somerset. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.

How the wider profile compares

Show every band direction

• Band A leans toward Bath & North East Somerset
• Band B leans toward Ashford
• Band C leans toward Bath & North East Somerset
• Band D leans toward Ashford
• Band E is closely balanced
• Band F leans toward Ashford
• Band G is closely balanced
• Band H is closely balanced

This sequence is read from the lowest published band to the highest.

Other close England matches for Ashford: Malvern Hills (5.7% redistribution distance); Derbyshire Dales (5.7% redistribution distance); East Devon (6.6% redistribution distance); Cherwell (6.7% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Bath & North East Somerset stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.