Lincoln Council Tax 2026
East Midlands, England · 47,760 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Lincoln's Band D Council Tax is £2,323.08 for 2026-27, the 239th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 32% of them) and 1% below the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Maldon, Basildon, Barnsley, Havant, then Rushmoor, Castle Point. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Liverpool, City of Nottingham, Doncaster, Bolsover.
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. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Maldon, Basildon, Barnsley, Havant, then Rushmoor, Castle Point. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,323.08
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Near the UK average
- +2.75%
- year-on-year vs £2,260.98
- Lower-quarter rise
- -0.6%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £4,646.16
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Maldon, Basildon, Barnsley, Havant, then Rushmoor, Castle Point. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Liverpool, City of Nottingham, Doncaster, Bolsover. Open Maldon for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
Lincoln · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Lincoln
Lincoln's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,260.98 (2025-26) to £2,323.08 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 345.
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 changesLincoln bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Lincoln's nearest Band D charges nationwide
Lincoln is 239th of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,323.08. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Maldon, Basildon, Barnsley, Havant, then Rushmoor, Castle Point. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Maldon, ignore geography on purpose, so a map neighbour is not mistaken for a charge twin. Read the difference column as a pound gap; cross-check the East Midlands ranking further down when you care about local neighbours, and the stock-weighted average when you care what most of Lincoln's 47,760 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Liverpool, City of Nottingham, Doncaster, Bolsover.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Maldon | £2,328.37 | +£5.29 |
| Basildon | £2,327.24 | +£4.16 |
| Barnsley | £2,325.96 | +£2.88 |
| Havant | £2,320.28 | −£2.80 |
| Rushmoor | £2,320.28 | −£2.80 |
| Castle Point | £2,318.63 | −£4.45 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,548.72 | £154.87 | £1,161.54 |
| B | £1,806.84 | £180.68 | £1,355.13 |
| C | £2,064.96 | £206.50 | £1,548.72 |
| D | £2,323.08 | £232.31 | £1,742.31 |
| E | £2,839.32 | £283.93 | £2,129.49 |
| F | £3,355.56 | £335.56 | £2,516.67 |
| G | £3,871.80 | £387.18 | £2,903.85 |
| H | £4,646.16 | £464.62 | £3,484.62 |
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 Lincoln's 47,760 properties actually pay
Most homes in Lincoln sit in Band A, the bottom of the valuation list: 28,940 of 47,760 dwellings (60.6%). Band A is charged at two-thirds of the Band D rate, so the headline figure above describes a property type that is in the minority here. More than half of those homes — 60.6% — sit in that single band, an unusually concentrated stock. 90.1% of dwellings on the England valuation list here are banded below D.
Weighting each band's statutory charge by the number of properties in it gives a stock-weighted average of £1,762.31 per dwelling, £560.77 (24.1%) below the £2,323.08 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure Lincoln is 308th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. No billing authority in East Midlands charges less per dwelling across its stock than Lincoln does.
How to read this stock pattern
Band D is a poor description of the largest group in Lincoln'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 £1,762.31 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.
The distribution is unusually concentrated: one band alone contains 60.6% of all published dwellings. That gives the modal-band comparison real descriptive weight and makes the gap between its charge and Band D easier to interpret. It also means the statutory charge shown for that band applies to the largest share of the local stock before discounts or exemptions. The table remains necessary because the other 7 bands describe the minority of properties that the headline cannot represent.
Lincoln forms the lower edge of the East Midlands peer set after each authority's housing mix is taken into account. Its position is therefore not just a low Band D headline: the weighted average remains lowest across the region's published stock profiles. The ranking is an area comparison, not a promise about a particular address, and the band table below retains the within-council variation that the rank compresses.
Closest housing-stock shape: Leicester City
Leicester City is an exceptionally close stock-shape match for Lincoln: moving 1.9% of dwellings between valuation bands would make the two published distributions align. That is a stricter comparison than sharing a modal band, because all published bands contribute to the distance.
Four largest band differences
- The largest separation sits at lower Band C, where Leicester City holds 11.7% of its stock and Lincoln holds 10.4%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band A: Lincoln has 60.6% of dwellings there, against 59.6% in Leicester City. 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. Lincoln places 3.0% of dwellings there versus 2.5% for Leicester City, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band B, where Leicester City holds 19.5% of its stock and Lincoln holds 19.1%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
How the wider profile compares
Leicester City is more concentrated across Bands A to C in aggregate, by 0.8% of its stock. Lincoln's closest match is therefore achieved despite the peer carrying more homes below the reference band.
Lincoln carries 0.5% more of its stock in Bands E and above than Leicester City. The extra upper-tail weight is small enough for this to remain the nearest peer, but large enough to distinguish the two areas.
Both profiles peak in Band A, so the peer match agrees on the most common valuation group as well as the full-distribution distance. The band-by-band gaps above show why a shared mode does not make the profiles interchangeable.
Band F is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 1.1% and 1.1%. Reading that near-match beside the largest gaps prevents the peer label from hiding where the two published distributions actually agree.
Show every band direction
- Band A leans toward Lincoln
- Band B is closely balanced
- Band C leans toward Leicester City
- Band D is closely balanced
- Band E leans toward Lincoln
- 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 Lincoln: Liverpool (2.8% redistribution distance); City of Nottingham (3.4% redistribution distance); Doncaster (3.8% redistribution distance); Bolsover (4.9% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Leicester City stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 28,940 | 60.6% | £1,548.72 |
| B | 9,140 | 19.1% | £1,806.84 |
| C | 4,950 | 10.4% | £2,064.96 |
| D | 2,570 | 5.4% | £2,323.08 |
| E | 1,440 | 3.0% | £2,839.32 |
| F | 530 | 1.1% | £3,355.56 |
| G | 140 | 0.3% | £3,871.80 |
| H | 50 | 0.1% | £4,646.16 |
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
These are the closest authorities to Lincoln on the stock-weighted measure, which is a different ordering from the Band D neighbours above because it accounts for how each area's properties are banded.
- Dudley£1,791.52
- Hammersmith & Fulham£1,769.55
- Newham£1,755.27
- Sandwell£1,734.82
- City of London£1,727.17
Lincoln's nearest year-on-year movers
Lincoln moved Band D from £2,260.98 to £2,323.08 (+2.75%, competition rank 345th of 350). The closest published movements sit with Westminster, Harborough, Durham.
Muted-rise signal for Lincoln: the increase is below 4%, placing this authority among the slower-moving part of the current dataset.
- Westminster3.00%
- Harborough2.79%
- Durham2.78%
- Doncaster2.71%
- Merton2.50%
- Rutland2.49%
How Lincoln compares in East Midlands
Among the 35 billing authorities in East Midlands, Lincoln's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,323.08 ranks 30th of 35, higher than 14% of them (£133.92 below the East Midlands average of £2,457.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
Regional low-charge outlier: this authority sits in the least costly fifth of East Midlands.
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 28th | Chesterfield | £2,339.49 |
| 29th | North Kesteven | £2,337.81 |
| 30th | Lincoln | £2,323.08 |
| 31st | Boston | £2,308.73 |
| 32nd | Derby City | £2,306.00 |
Regional rank out of 35 East Midlands billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Questions answered from Lincoln's data
These answers use Lincoln's £2,323.08 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band A, 90.1% below D).
Is Lincoln Council Tax above the UK average?
Lincoln's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,323.08, 0.6% below the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 239th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Maldon, Basildon, Barnsley, Havant, then Rushmoor, Castle Point.
Which councils have charges closest to Lincoln?
The closest published Band D rates are Maldon (£2,328.37), Basildon (£2,327.24), Barnsley (£2,325.96), Havant (£2,320.28), Rushmoor (£2,320.28), Castle Point (£2,318.63). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from Lincoln.
What is the average Council Tax bill in Lincoln?
Across Lincoln's 47,760 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £1,762.31 for 2026-27. That is £560.77 below the £2,323.08 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band A (60.6% of the stock) and 90.1% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Liverpool, City of Nottingham, Doncaster, Bolsover. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did Lincoln Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,260.98 to £2,323.08, a 2.75% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 345th of 350; the closest movements include Westminster, Harborough, Durham.
Advice boundary for Lincoln
They are not personalised advice - expand a question for the figure that matches the tables above for the 2026-27 vintage, then follow the methodology or gov.uk links for a binding bill on a specific property.
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. This area Band D is a two-tier total for Lincoln: district charge plus county, police, fire where separate, and the average parish precept across the district. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Maldon, Basildon, Barnsley, Havant, then Rushmoor, Castle Point. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Liverpool, City of Nottingham, Doncaster, Bolsover. For a binding figure consult your Lincoln Council Tax bill or the official gov.uk Council Tax service. Figures published in 2026 reflect the 2026/2027 financial year only.
UK tools, directories and band challenge
- Compare councils side-by-side →
- Browse all UK councils →
- Band D national rollup →
- Challenge your band guide →
Charges shown for Lincoln are the area Band D and statutory band multiples, already including county, police, fire and average parish precepts where they apply. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Maldon, Basildon, Barnsley, Havant, then Rushmoor, Castle Point.