New Forest Council Tax 2026
South East, England · 83,640 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, New Forest's Band D Council Tax is £2,419.76 for 2026-27, the 169th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 52% of them) and 4% above the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Calderdale, Ceredigion, Canterbury, St Albans, then Crawley, North West Leicestershire. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Bromsgrove, Dorset Council, East Devon, Chelmsford.
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 Calderdale, Ceredigion, Canterbury, St Albans, then Crawley, North West Leicestershire. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,419.76
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Above the UK average
- +5.05%
- year-on-year vs £2,303.37
- Middle-half rise
- +3.5%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £4,839.52
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Calderdale, Ceredigion, Canterbury, St Albans, then Crawley, North West Leicestershire. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Bromsgrove, Dorset Council, East Devon, Chelmsford. Open Calderdale for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
New Forest · year-on-year Band D
What changed for New Forest
New Forest's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,303.37 (2025-26) to £2,419.76 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 133.
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 changesNew Forest bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
New Forest's nearest Band D charges nationwide
New Forest is 169th of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,419.76. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Calderdale, Ceredigion, Canterbury, St Albans, then Crawley, North West Leicestershire. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Calderdale, 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 South East ranking further down when you care about local neighbours, and the stock-weighted average when you care what most of New Forest's 83,640 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Bromsgrove, Dorset Council, East Devon, Chelmsford.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Calderdale | £2,420.15 | +£0.39 |
| Ceredigion | £2,419.45 | −£0.31 |
| Canterbury | £2,419.33 | −£0.43 |
| St Albans | £2,419.22 | −£0.54 |
| Crawley | £2,418.46 | −£1.30 |
| North West Leicestershire | £2,418.20 | −£1.56 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,613.17 | £161.32 | £1,209.88 |
| B | £1,882.04 | £188.20 | £1,411.53 |
| C | £2,150.90 | £215.09 | £1,613.18 |
| D | £2,419.76 | £241.98 | £1,814.82 |
| E | £2,957.48 | £295.75 | £2,218.11 |
| F | £3,495.21 | £349.52 | £2,621.41 |
| G | £4,032.93 | £403.29 | £3,024.70 |
| H | £4,839.52 | £483.95 | £3,629.64 |
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 New Forest's 83,640 properties actually pay
New Forest is one of the authorities where Band D genuinely is the commonest band — 19,480 of 83,640 dwellings (23.3%). The headline rate above therefore describes the typical home here, rather than sitting above it as it does in most of the country. It takes 3 bands — C, D, E — to cover half the stock, a wider spread than most authorities show. 45.3% 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 £2,501.41 per dwelling, £81.65 (3.4%) above the £2,419.76 Band D headline. On that measure New Forest is 69th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places New Forest 33rd of the 64 billing authorities in South East, below the regional median of £2,511.00.
How to read this stock pattern
Here the standard Band D benchmark and the most common property group point to the same part of the distribution. That makes New Forest less sensitive than most authorities to the familiar criticism that Band D is merely a reference property. The stock-weighted amount is still useful: it incorporates the lower and upper bands instead of treating the modal group as the whole area. It should be read as a corpus comparison, not as the bill of a particular address.
New Forest 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.
New Forest occupies the middle half of the South East stock-weighted distribution, below its £2,511.00 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: Rother
Rother is the closest full-distribution match for New Forest. The profiles are close rather than identical: 3.5% 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 falls on the reference band itself. Band D contains 23.3% of New Forest's stock but 20.1% of Rother's, so the national headline describes more of the local distribution here.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band A, where Rother holds 10.7% of its stock and New Forest holds 8.8%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band B, where Rother holds 15.8% of its stock and New Forest holds 14.7%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction is an upper-band difference at Band G. Rother records 5.9% of dwellings there, compared with 5.6% in New Forest, so the peer carries more of its stock at that higher rung.
How the wider profile compares
Rother is more concentrated across Bands A to C in aggregate, by 3.0% of its stock. New Forest's closest match is therefore achieved despite the peer carrying more homes below the reference band.
Across Bands E and above the combined shares differ by 0.2%. As with the lower bands, this net comparison does not erase any opposing gaps between individual upper bands.
New Forest and Rother do not even peak in the same valuation band: the peer's largest group is Band C. Their total-variation match is therefore built from offsetting shares across the ladder, not from one identical headline category.
Band E is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 16.4% and 16.4%. 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 Rother
- Band B leans toward Rother
- Band C is closely balanced
- Band D leans toward New Forest
- Band E is closely balanced
- 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 New Forest: Bromsgrove (4.8% redistribution distance); Dorset Council (6.0% redistribution distance); East Devon (6.8% redistribution distance); Chelmsford (7.4% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Rother stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 7,340 | 8.8% | £1,613.17 |
| B | 12,260 | 14.7% | £1,882.04 |
| C | 18,290 | 21.9% | £2,150.90 |
| D | 19,480 | 23.3% | £2,419.76 |
| E | 13,710 | 16.4% | £2,957.48 |
| F | 7,220 | 8.6% | £3,495.21 |
| G | 4,710 | 5.6% | £4,032.93 |
| H | 630 | 0.8% | £4,839.52 |
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 New Forest 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.
- Conwy£2,509.71
- Herefordshire£2,509.52
- Malvern Hills£2,502.10
- Central Bedfordshire£2,500.27
- North Hertfordshire£2,494.60
New Forest's nearest year-on-year movers
New Forest moved Band D from £2,303.37 to £2,419.76 (+5.05%, competition rank 133rd of 350). The closest published movements sit with Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen, Cotswold.
- Blackpool5.06%
- Blackburn with Darwen5.05%
- Cotswold5.05%
- Reading5.05%
- South Gloucestershire5.05%
- Brighton & Hove5.04%
How New Forest compares in South East
Among the 64 billing authorities in South East, New Forest's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,419.76 ranks 41st of 64, higher than 36% of them (£55.24 below the South East average of £2,475.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 39th | Tunbridge Wells | £2,446.15 |
| 40th | Horsham | £2,441.01 |
| 41st | New Forest | £2,419.76 |
| 42nd | Canterbury | £2,419.33 |
| 43rd | Crawley | £2,418.46 |
Regional rank out of 64 South East billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Questions answered from New Forest's data
These answers use New Forest's £2,419.76 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band D, 45.3% below D).
Is New Forest Council Tax above the UK average?
New Forest's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,419.76, 3.5% above the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 169th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Calderdale, Ceredigion, Canterbury, St Albans, then Crawley, North West Leicestershire.
Which councils have charges closest to New Forest?
The closest published Band D rates are Calderdale (£2,420.15), Ceredigion (£2,419.45), Canterbury (£2,419.33), St Albans (£2,419.22), Crawley (£2,418.46), North West Leicestershire (£2,418.20). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from New Forest.
What is the average Council Tax bill in New Forest?
Across New Forest's 83,640 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £2,501.41 for 2026-27. That is £81.65 above the £2,419.76 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band D (23.3% of the stock) and 45.3% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Bromsgrove, Dorset Council, East Devon, Chelmsford. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did New Forest Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,303.37 to £2,419.76, a 5.05% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 133rd of 350; the closest movements include Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen, Cotswold.
Advice boundary for New Forest
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 New Forest: district charge plus county, police, fire where separate, and the average parish precept across the district. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Calderdale, Ceredigion, Canterbury, St Albans, then Crawley, North West Leicestershire. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Bromsgrove, Dorset Council, East Devon, Chelmsford. For a binding figure consult your New Forest 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 New Forest 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 Calderdale, Ceredigion, Canterbury, St Albans, then Crawley, North West Leicestershire.