Kensington & Chelsea Council Tax 2026
London, England · 89,610 domestic properties
Kensington & Chelsea Band D is £1,666.65 for 2026-27, the 334th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (29% below the UK average of £2,337.00).
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Kensington & Chelsea's published Band D Council Tax is £1,666.65 for 2026-27 (FLOOR). Competition rank is 334th of 350 (higher than 5% of authorities).
- £1,666.65 Band D · FLOOR
- 334th of 350 authorities
- -28.7% vs UK average
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Kensington & Chelsea's Band D Council Tax is £1,666.65 for 2026-27 (FLOOR), the 334th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 5% of them) and 29% below the UK average of £2,337.00.
How we calculate this rank & percentile
We compare every UK billing authority with a published 2026-27 Band D rate (350 in total). Rank is one plus the number with a higher charge, so equal charges share a rank. Percentile is round(authorities with a lower charge ÷ 350 × 100). The UK average is the simple mean of every council's Band D rate in our coverage set. Because the rank spans all three nations, it compares what each authority charges, not what each charge buys. English bands rest on 1991 property values in eight bands, A to H, while Scotland uses its own 1991 thresholds and Wales revalued to 2003 values with a ninth band. An English Band D home is therefore not the same property profile as a Welsh or Scottish one. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £1,666.65
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Among the lowest in the UK
- +4.72%
- year-on-year vs £1,591.59
- Middle-half rise
- -28.7%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £3,333.30
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Kensington & Chelsea · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Kensington & Chelsea
Kensington & Chelsea's Band D Council Tax rose from £1,591.59 (2025-26) to £1,666.65 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 245.
How to read this Band D change
This is a change in the published Band D charge, not advice about household bills. Precepts, discounts, and banding decide the amount you pay.
See UK year-on-year changesMHCLG/VOA position brief
Kensington & Chelsea Band D posture in the 2026-27 corpus
Entity-varying stamps from the joined MHCLG, Scottish CTAS and StatsWales extract plus VOA CTSOP stock counts, ABS(charge) peers, not map neighbours.
- £1,666.65 Published Band D 2026-27 FLOOR
- 334th of 350 UK authorities 5th percentile
- +4.7% Year-on-year Band D MID
- 89,610 VOA dwellings on list UPPER
Band D charge neighbourhood
Published 2026-27 Band D among the nearest pound-gap peers (snapshot 2026-10-02).
Derived position reading
What the Kensington & Chelsea Band D figure shows
The published Band D charge of £1,666.65 places Kensington & Chelsea 334th out of 350 UK billing authorities when ordered from the highest charge down. That position is derived from the full authority table, rather than from a single quoted comparison. It is 28.7% below the simple UK average of £2,337.00, while the percentile shows that 5% of the recorded authorities have a lower Band D charge.
The more useful local comparison is London. Here, Kensington & Chelsea ranks 29th among 33 billing authorities, against a regional average of £2,090.00. The table of nearby authorities therefore compares published charges in the same geography, not property values or the level of service a household receives. Equal Band D charges share a position, so the ranking does not invent a difference where the underlying values match.
Band D is a statutory reference point, not a bill for every household. Charges for the other bands are calculated from the applicable national ratios, and discounts or exemptions can change an individual bill. This page is best used to understand the current published schedule and how this authority sits within the recorded 2026-27 council-tax corpus.
Kensington & Chelsea bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,111.10 | £111.11 | £833.32 |
| B | £1,296.28 | £129.63 | £972.21 |
| C | £1,481.47 | £148.15 | £1,111.10 |
| D | £1,666.65 | £166.67 | £1,249.99 |
| E | £2,037.02 | £203.70 | £1,527.76 |
| F | £2,407.38 | £240.74 | £1,805.54 |
| G | £2,777.75 | £277.78 | £2,083.31 |
| H | £3,333.30 | £333.33 | £2,499.98 |
England 1991 valuation ranges (Band A–H)
- Band A: Up to £40,000 (1991 valuation)
- Band B: £40,001 to £52,000
- Band C: £52,001 to £68,000
- Band D: £68,001 to £88,000 (reference band)
- Band E: £88,001 to £120,000
- Band F: £120,001 to £160,000
- Band G: £160,001 to £320,000
- Band H: Over £320,000
Source: MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27 (area Band D) + statutory England band ratios documented in our methodology. Monthly figure is the annual charge / 10 (most councils use 10 monthly instalments). The sole-occupant column applies the statutory 25% single-person discount, payable when only one adult lives in the property.
What Kensington & Chelsea's 89,610 properties actually pay
Kensington & Chelsea is unusual in having its stock peak above the reference band: Band G is the commonest, at 20,010 of 89,610 dwellings (22.3%), and is charged at five-thirds of the Band D rate. The headline Band D figure understates what a typical household here is billed. VOA CTSOP stamp UPPER: 15.9% of dwellings here are banded below D.
Stock-weighted average £2,317.98 is £651.33 (39.1%) above Band D £1,666.65 - 127th of 318 authorities with published counts (corpus mean £2,269.00). That places Kensington & Chelsea 13th of the 33 billing authorities in London, above the regional median of £2,261.38.
Kensington & Chelsea property mix · A–C / D / E–H · UPPER
Sums to 89,610 VOA dwellings, band mix, not a household bill.
Closest housing-stock shape: Westminster
Westminster is the nearest available full-distribution peer for Kensington & Chelsea, although the match is not tight. Aligning the two published profiles would require 8.4% 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 appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band H. Kensington & Chelsea places 17.3% of dwellings there versus 13.0% for Westminster, 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. Kensington & Chelsea places 22.3% of dwellings there versus 18.6% for Westminster, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
- Another material separation is an upper-band difference at Band E. Westminster records 18.4% of dwellings there, compared with 15.0% in Kensington & Chelsea, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
- A smaller distinction is at reference Band D: its share is 15.8% in Kensington & Chelsea and 17.5% in Westminster. The familiar benchmark represents a larger slice of the peer's housing stock.
Other close England matches for Kensington & Chelsea: Elmbridge (14.6% redistribution distance); Mole Valley (17.3% redistribution distance); Tandridge (20.4% redistribution distance); Waverley (21.3% redistribution distance).
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1,460 | 1.6% | £1,111.10 |
| B | 3,310 | 3.7% | £1,296.28 |
| C | 9,440 | 10.5% | £1,481.47 |
| D | 14,180 | 15.8% | £1,666.65 |
| E | 13,440 | 15.0% | £2,037.02 |
| F | 12,250 | 13.7% | £2,407.38 |
| G | 20,010 | 22.3% | £2,777.75 |
| H | 15,520 | 17.3% | £3,333.30 |
Property-stock source, rounding and weighting notes
Property counts: VOA, Council Tax: stock of properties 2025 (Table CTSOP1.0_SUP, as at 9 September 2025), Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts are published rounded to the nearest 10, so shares are approximate and may not sum to exactly 100%. The stock-weighted average is our calculation: each band's 2026/2027 charge multiplied by its property count, divided by the total. It is a mean across the whole stock, not a bill any individual household receives.
Authorities charging a similar average across their stock
Closest to Kensington & Chelsea on stock-weighted charge (UPPER) - a different ordering from Band D twins.
- Torridge£2,323.97
- Gravesham£2,320.90
- Lichfield£2,320.51
- Brighton & Hove£2,317.28
- Windsor & Maidenhead£2,316.57
Kensington & Chelsea's nearest year-on-year movers · MID
Kensington & Chelsea moved Band D from £1,591.59 to £1,666.65 (+4.72%, MID; competition rank 245th of 350). Closest published movements: Cambridge, Great Yarmouth, Broadland.
- Cambridge4.74%
- Great Yarmouth4.74%
- Broadland4.72%
- Epsom & Ewell4.72%
- Spelthorne4.71%
- Elmbridge4.70%
How Kensington & Chelsea compares in London
Among the 33 billing authorities in London, Kensington & Chelsea's 2026-27 Band D charge of £1,666.65 ranks 29th of 33, higher than 12% of them (£423.35 below the London average of £2,090.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
Regional low-charge outlier: this authority sits in the least costly fifth of London.
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 27th | Newham | £1,944.23 |
| 28th | Tower Hamlets | £1,837.78 |
| 29th | Kensington & Chelsea | £1,666.65 |
| 30th | Hammersmith & Fulham | £1,519.51 |
| 31st | City of London | £1,329.56 |
Regional rank out of 33 London billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Council Tax figure, precept and liability disclaimer
Council Tax charges shown on this page are derived from the published England Band D dataset and statutory England band ratios. They are intended as informational guidance, not as a personalised tax statement or legal advice. Your actual bill depends on your property's assigned band and on any discounts or exemptions that apply to your household. Kensington & Chelsea's Band D already includes the borough charge plus the Mayor of London's GLA precept for capital-wide services. For a binding figure consult your Kensington & Chelsea Council Tax bill or the official gov.uk Council Tax service. Figures published in 2026 reflect the 2026/2027 financial year only.
UK directories, Band D rollup and band challenge
Charges shown for Kensington & Chelsea are the area Band D and statutory band multiples, including the GLA precept.