Brighton & Hove Council Tax 2026
South East, England · 136,450 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Brighton & Hove's Band D Council Tax is £2,580.54 for 2026-27, the 49th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 86% of them) and 10% above the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Surrey Heath, Sefton, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse, then Preston, Herefordshire. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Torbay, Exeter, Staffordshire Moorlands, Trafford.
How we calculate this rank & percentile
We compare every UK billing authority with a published 2026-27 Band D rate (350 in total). Rank is one plus the number with a higher charge, so equal charges share a rank. Percentile is round(authorities with a lower charge ÷ 350 × 100). The UK average is the simple mean of every council's Band D rate in our coverage set. Because the rank spans all three nations, it compares what each authority charges, not what each charge buys. English bands rest on 1991 property values in eight bands, A to H, while Scotland uses its own 1991 thresholds and Wales revalued to 2003 values with a ninth band. An English Band D home is therefore not the same property profile as a Welsh or Scottish one. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Surrey Heath, Sefton, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse, then Preston, Herefordshire. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,580.54
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Above the UK average
- +5.04%
- year-on-year vs £2,456.78
- Middle-half rise
- +10.4%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £5,161.08
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Surrey Heath, Sefton, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse, then Preston, Herefordshire. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Torbay, Exeter, Staffordshire Moorlands, Trafford. Open Surrey Heath for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
Brighton & Hove · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Brighton & Hove
Brighton & Hove's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,456.78 (2025-26) to £2,580.54 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 138.
How to read this Band D change
This is a change in the published Band D charge, not advice about household bills. Precepts, discounts, and banding decide the amount you pay.
See UK year-on-year changesBrighton & Hove bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Brighton & Hove's nearest Band D charges nationwide
Brighton & Hove is 49th of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,580.54. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Surrey Heath, Sefton, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse, then Preston, Herefordshire. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Surrey Heath, ignore geography on purpose, so a map neighbour is not mistaken for a charge twin. Read the difference column as a pound gap; cross-check the South East ranking further down when you care about local neighbours, and the stock-weighted average when you care what most of Brighton & Hove's 136,450 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Torbay, Exeter, Staffordshire Moorlands, Trafford.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Surrey Heath | £2,585.16 | +£4.62 |
| Sefton | £2,583.22 | +£2.68 |
| Cherwell | £2,582.96 | +£2.42 |
| Vale of White Horse | £2,577.44 | −£3.10 |
| Preston | £2,575.74 | −£4.80 |
| Herefordshire | £2,574.37 | −£6.17 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,720.36 | £172.04 | £1,290.27 |
| B | £2,007.09 | £200.71 | £1,505.32 |
| C | £2,293.81 | £229.38 | £1,720.36 |
| D | £2,580.54 | £258.05 | £1,935.41 |
| E | £3,153.99 | £315.40 | £2,365.49 |
| F | £3,727.45 | £372.75 | £2,795.59 |
| G | £4,300.90 | £430.09 | £3,225.67 |
| H | £5,161.08 | £516.11 | £3,870.81 |
England 1991 valuation ranges (Band A–H)
- Band A: Up to £40,000 (1991 valuation)
- Band B: £40,001 to £52,000
- Band C: £52,001 to £68,000
- Band D: £68,001 to £88,000 (reference band)
- Band E: £88,001 to £120,000
- Band F: £120,001 to £160,000
- Band G: £160,001 to £320,000
- Band H: Over £320,000
Source: MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27 (area Band D) + statutory England band ratios documented in our methodology. Monthly figure is the annual charge / 10 (most councils use 10 monthly instalments). The sole-occupant column applies the statutory 25% single-person discount, payable when only one adult lives in the property.
What Brighton & Hove's 136,450 properties actually pay
Brighton & Hove's housing stock peaks below the reference point, in Band C, which covers 35,590 of 136,450 dwellings (26.1%). A Band C home is charged at eight-ninths of the Band D rate, which is why the typical bill here lands under the headline figure. It takes 3 bands — A, B, C — to cover half the stock, a wider spread than most authorities show. 70.6% of dwellings on the England valuation list here are banded below D.
Weighting each band's statutory charge by the number of properties in it gives a stock-weighted average of £2,317.28 per dwelling, £263.26 (10.2%) below the £2,580.54 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure Brighton & Hove is 128th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places Brighton & Hove 46th of the 64 billing authorities in South East, below the regional median of £2,511.00.
How to read this stock pattern
Brighton & Hove'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 C charge is eight-ninths of the Band D rate, and 70.6% 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.
Brighton & Hove 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.
Brighton & Hove 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: Wyre
Wyre is the closest full-distribution match for Brighton & Hove. The profiles are close rather than identical: 3.7% 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 is an upper-band difference at Band E. Wyre records 10.8% of dwellings there, compared with 8.6% in Brighton & Hove, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
- Another material separation is lower on the ladder at Band C: Brighton & Hove has 26.1% of dwellings there, against 24.0% in Wyre. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
- A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band F. Wyre records 4.9% of dwellings there, compared with 3.5% in Brighton & Hove, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
- A smaller distinction falls on the reference band itself. Band D contains 15.1% of Brighton & Hove's stock but 14.1% of Wyre's, so the national headline describes more of the local distribution here.
How the wider profile compares
Brighton & Hove has the stronger combined lower-band tilt: Bands A to C account for 2.6% more of its stock than they do in Wyre. The nearest match still leaves that bottom-of-ladder difference visible.
Wyre carries the heavier upper tail across Bands E and above, exceeding Brighton & Hove's combined share there by 3.6%. Total-variation distance counts those absolute band gaps without assuming they offset the lower-band pattern.
Both profiles peak in Band C, so the peer match agrees on the most common valuation group as well as the full-distribution distance. The band-by-band gaps above show why a shared mode does not make the profiles interchangeable.
Band H is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 0.2% and 0.1%. Reading that near-match beside the largest gaps prevents the peer label from hiding where the two published distributions actually agree.
Show every band direction
- Band A leans toward Brighton & Hove
- Band B is closely balanced
- Band C leans toward Brighton & Hove
- Band D leans toward Brighton & Hove
- Band E leans toward Wyre
- Band F leans toward Wyre
- 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 Brighton & Hove: Torbay (4.1% redistribution distance); Exeter (4.1% redistribution distance); Staffordshire Moorlands (4.1% redistribution distance); Trafford (4.3% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Wyre stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 30,090 | 22.1% | £1,720.36 |
| B | 30,590 | 22.4% | £2,007.09 |
| C | 35,590 | 26.1% | £2,293.81 |
| D | 20,580 | 15.1% | £2,580.54 |
| E | 11,710 | 8.6% | £3,153.99 |
| F | 4,830 | 3.5% | £3,727.45 |
| G | 2,840 | 2.1% | £4,300.90 |
| H | 220 | 0.2% | £5,161.08 |
Property-stock source, rounding and weighting notes
Property counts: VOA, Council Tax: stock of properties 2025 (Table CTSOP1.0_SUP, as at 9 September 2025), Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts are published rounded to the nearest 10, so shares are approximate and may not sum to exactly 100%. The stock-weighted average is our calculation: each band's 2026/2027 charge multiplied by its property count, divided by the total. It is a mean across the whole stock, not a bill any individual household receives.
Authorities charging a similar average across their stock
These are the closest authorities to Brighton & Hove on the stock-weighted measure, which is a different ordering from the Band D neighbours above because it accounts for how each area's properties are banded.
- Torridge£2,323.97
- Gravesham£2,320.90
- Lichfield£2,320.51
- Kensington & Chelsea£2,317.98
- Windsor & Maidenhead£2,316.57
Brighton & Hove's nearest year-on-year movers
Brighton & Hove moved Band D from £2,456.78 to £2,580.54 (+5.04%, competition rank 138th of 350). The closest published movements sit with Blackburn with Darwen, Cotswold, Slough.
- Blackburn with Darwen5.05%
- Cotswold5.05%
- Slough5.04%
- South Cambridgeshire5.04%
- Stoke-on-Trent5.04%
- West Oxfordshire5.04%
How Brighton & Hove compares in South East
Among the 64 billing authorities in South East, Brighton & Hove's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,580.54 ranks 15th of 64, higher than 77% of them (£105.54 above the South East average of £2,475.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 13th | Surrey Heath | £2,585.16 |
| 14th | Cherwell | £2,582.96 |
| 15th | Brighton & Hove | £2,580.54 |
| 16th | Vale of White Horse | £2,577.44 |
| 17th | West Oxfordshire | £2,566.95 |
Regional rank out of 64 South East billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Questions answered from Brighton & Hove's data
These answers use Brighton & Hove's £2,580.54 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band C, 70.6% below D).
Is Brighton & Hove Council Tax above the UK average?
Brighton & Hove's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,580.54, 10.4% above the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 49th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Surrey Heath, Sefton, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse, then Preston, Herefordshire.
Which councils have charges closest to Brighton & Hove?
The closest published Band D rates are Surrey Heath (£2,585.16), Sefton (£2,583.22), Cherwell (£2,582.96), Vale of White Horse (£2,577.44), Preston (£2,575.74), Herefordshire (£2,574.37). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from Brighton & Hove.
What is the average Council Tax bill in Brighton & Hove?
Across Brighton & Hove's 136,450 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £2,317.28 for 2026-27. That is £263.26 below the £2,580.54 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band C (26.1% of the stock) and 70.6% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Torbay, Exeter, Staffordshire Moorlands, Trafford. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did Brighton & Hove Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,456.78 to £2,580.54, a 5.04% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 138th of 350; the closest movements include Blackburn with Darwen, Cotswold, Slough.
Advice boundary for Brighton & Hove
They are not personalised advice - expand a question for the figure that matches the tables above for the 2026-27 vintage, then follow the methodology or gov.uk links for a binding bill on a specific property.
Council Tax figure, precept and liability disclaimer
Council Tax charges shown on this page are derived from the published England Band D dataset and statutory England band ratios. They are intended as informational guidance, not as a personalised tax statement or legal advice. Your actual bill depends on your property's assigned band and on any discounts or exemptions that apply to your household. Brighton & Hove is unitary, so this figure combines its own charge (including adult social care) with police and fire precepts where separate, plus any average parish precept. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Surrey Heath, Sefton, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse, then Preston, Herefordshire. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Torbay, Exeter, Staffordshire Moorlands, Trafford. For a binding figure consult your Brighton & Hove Council Tax bill or the official gov.uk Council Tax service. Figures published in 2026 reflect the 2026/2027 financial year only.
UK tools, directories and band challenge
- Compare councils side-by-side →
- Browse all UK councils →
- Band D national rollup →
- Challenge your band guide →
Charges shown for Brighton & Hove are the area Band D and statutory band multiples with no county tier. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Surrey Heath, Sefton, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse, then Preston, Herefordshire.