Darlington Council Tax 2026

How to read this stock pattern

Band D is a poor description of the largest group in Darlington's housing stock. The dominant group is Band A, where the statutory charge is two-thirds of the Band D rate, while the reference band describes a different part of the valuation list. The £2,070.55 stock-weighted figure is therefore the more representative area-level comparison. It does not predict an individual bill, because discounts, exemptions and the property's actual valuation band still determine liability.

This is a two-band centre rather than a single-band market. Bands A and B together contain 63.8% 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.

Darlington occupies the middle half of the North East stock-weighted distribution, above its £2,065.00 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: Preston

Preston is the closest full-distribution match for Darlington. 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 sits at lower Band C, where Preston holds 16.0% of its stock and Darlington holds 14.5%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
• A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band B: Darlington has 20.8% of dwellings there, against 19.4% in Preston. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
• A smaller distinction appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band E. Darlington places 6.7% of dwellings there versus 5.4% for Preston, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
• A smaller distinction sits at lower Band A, where Preston holds 43.8% of its stock and Darlington holds 43.0%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.

How the wider profile compares

Show every band direction

• Band A leans toward Preston
• Band B leans toward Darlington
• Band C leans toward Preston
• Band D is closely balanced
• Band E leans toward Darlington
• Band F is closely balanced
• 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 Darlington: North Lincolnshire (3.6% redistribution distance); Cumberland (3.7% redistribution distance); Halton (3.8% redistribution distance); North East Derbyshire (4.2% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Preston stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.