Cheltenham Council Tax 2026

How to read this stock pattern

Cheltenham'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 65.4% 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.

Cheltenham 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.

Cheltenham falls in the lower quarter of the South West stock-weighted ordering, below the regional median of £2,376.53. Its Band D figure may sit elsewhere in the national table, but applying the local stock mix produces a cheaper regional comparison. That difference is precisely why both measures are shown. Neither replaces an address-level bill, which depends on the property's valuation band and any applicable reductions.

Closest housing-stock shape: Rugby

Rugby is the closest full-distribution match for Cheltenham. The profiles are close rather than identical: 3.1% 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 falls on the reference band itself. Band D contains 16.4% of Cheltenham's stock but 14.3% of Rugby's, so the national headline describes more of the local distribution here.
• A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band F. Rugby records 6.8% of dwellings there, compared with 4.9% in Cheltenham, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
• A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band E. Rugby records 10.2% of dwellings there, compared with 9.2% in Cheltenham, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
• A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band C: Cheltenham has 24.6% of dwellings there, against 24.1% in Rugby. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.

How the wider profile compares

Show every band direction

• Band A is closely balanced
• Band B is closely balanced
• Band C is closely balanced
• Band D leans toward Cheltenham
• Band E leans toward Rugby
• Band F leans toward Rugby
• 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 Cheltenham: Folkestone & Hythe (4.4% redistribution distance); Charnwood (4.6% redistribution distance); Swale (4.7% redistribution distance); Stafford (4.8% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Rugby stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.