City of London Council Tax 2026

How to read this stock pattern

City of London's housing stock is tilted above the Band D reference point, so the usual headline works in the opposite direction from lower-banded areas. The modal Band E is charged at eleven-ninths of the Band D rate, and the £1,727.17 stock-weighted result captures that upper-band pressure. In this case Band D tends to understate the centre of the council's published stock. Individual liability can still differ through the property's exact band, discounts, exemptions and local collection arrangements.

This is a two-band centre rather than a single-band market. Bands E and G together contain 54.3% 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.

City of London falls in the lower quarter of the London stock-weighted ordering, below the regional median of £2,261.38. 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: Isles of Scilly

Isles of Scilly is the nearest available full-distribution peer for City of London, although the match is not tight. Aligning the two published profiles would require 18.9% of dwellings to move between valuation bands. Even the closest council therefore has a materially different housing-stock shape.

Four largest band differences

• The largest separation is at reference Band D: its share is 11.8% in City of London and 23.1% in Isles of Scilly. The familiar benchmark represents a larger slice of the peer's housing stock.
• Another material separation appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band E. City of London places 35.7% of dwellings there versus 28.2% for Isles of Scilly, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
• Another material separation appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band G. City of London places 18.6% of dwellings there versus 11.1% for Isles of Scilly, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
• Another material separation is an upper-band difference at Band F. Isles of Scilly records 23.1% of dwellings there, compared with 17.2% in City of London, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.

How the wider profile compares

Show every band direction

• Band A leans toward Isles of Scilly
• Band B leans toward City of London
• Band C leans toward Isles of Scilly
• Band D leans toward Isles of Scilly
• Band E leans toward City of London
• Band F leans toward Isles of Scilly
• Band G leans toward City of London
• Band H leans toward City of London

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

Other close England matches for City of London: Westminster (19.9% redistribution distance); Mole Valley (20.0% redistribution distance); Richmond upon Thames (20.6% redistribution distance); Elmbridge (21.8% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Isles of Scilly stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.