Herefordshire Council Tax 2026

How to read this stock pattern

Herefordshire'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 57.9% 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.

Herefordshire 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.

Herefordshire sits in the upper quarter of West Midlands on the stock-weighted ordering, above the regional median of £2,132.00. This narrows the comparison from a UK rank to authorities facing the same broad regional context, while still correcting each one for its different band mix. The placement says the council's average published stock is relatively costly within that peer set; it does not convert the mean into an individual household charge.

Closest housing-stock shape: Stroud

Stroud is the closest full-distribution match for Herefordshire. The profiles are close rather than identical: 4.3% 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 Stroud holds 23.1% of its stock and Herefordshire holds 19.6%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
• Another material separation is lower on the ladder at Band A: Herefordshire has 15.5% of dwellings there, against 13.4% in Stroud. 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 F. Herefordshire places 8.5% of dwellings there versus 7.4% for Stroud, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
• A smaller distinction appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band E. Herefordshire places 14.0% of dwellings there versus 13.0% for Stroud, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.

How the wider profile compares

Show every band direction

• Band A leans toward Herefordshire
• Band B is closely balanced
• Band C leans toward Stroud
• Band D is closely balanced
• Band E leans toward Herefordshire
• Band F leans toward Herefordshire
• 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 Herefordshire: North Yorkshire (4.4% redistribution distance); West Devon (4.6% redistribution distance); Cheshire East (4.7% redistribution distance); Mid Devon (5.0% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Stroud stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.