Bristol Council Tax 2026

How to read this stock pattern

Bristol'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 82.0% 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.

This is a two-band centre rather than a single-band market. Bands A and B together contain 62.6% of dwellings, so neither band should be presented as a complete account of the area. The stock-weighted result combines both groups and the smaller tails into one comparable measure. The table shows where that mean comes from and prevents the distribution being flattened into an overconfident "typical property" claim.

Bristol occupies the middle half of the South West stock-weighted distribution, below its £2,376.53 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: Tamworth

Tamworth is the closest full-distribution match for Bristol. The profiles are close rather than identical: 4.0% 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 at reference Band D: its share is 9.4% in Bristol and 11.5% in Tamworth. The familiar benchmark represents a larger slice of the peer's housing stock.
• A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band C: Bristol has 19.5% of dwellings there, against 17.7% in Tamworth. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
• A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band E. Tamworth records 6.3% of dwellings there, compared with 4.8% in Bristol, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
• A smaller distinction appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band G. Bristol places 1.4% of dwellings there versus 0.4% for Tamworth, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.

How the wider profile compares

Show every band direction

• Band A is closely balanced
• Band B is closely balanced
• Band C leans toward Bristol
• Band D leans toward Tamworth
• Band E leans toward Tamworth
• Band F leans toward Bristol
• Band G leans toward Bristol
• Band H is closely balanced

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

Other close England matches for Bristol: Ipswich (5.7% redistribution distance); Cannock Chase (6.8% redistribution distance); Portsmouth (6.8% redistribution distance); Luton (7.3% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Tamworth stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.