Reading Council Tax 2026
South East, England · 77,380 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Reading's Band D Council Tax is £2,612.77 for 2026-27, the 27th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 92% of them) and 12% above the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Stockport, Broxtowe, South Hams, Gedling, then Kingston upon Thames, Ashfield. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Adur, Greenwich, Broadland, Harlow.
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 Stockport, Broxtowe, South Hams, Gedling, then Kingston upon Thames, Ashfield. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,612.77
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Among the highest in the UK
- +5.05%
- year-on-year vs £2,487.11
- Middle-half rise
- +11.8%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £5,225.54
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Stockport, Broxtowe, South Hams, Gedling, then Kingston upon Thames, Ashfield. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Adur, Greenwich, Broadland, Harlow. Open Stockport for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
Reading · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Reading
Reading's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,487.11 (2025-26) to £2,612.77 (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 changesReading bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Reading's nearest Band D charges nationwide
Reading is 27th of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,612.77. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Stockport, Broxtowe, South Hams, Gedling, then Kingston upon Thames, Ashfield. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Stockport, 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 Reading's 77,380 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Adur, Greenwich, Broadland, Harlow.
National high-charge outlier: this rate is inside the costliest 10% of the UK corpus, so nearby national peers are a more useful benchmark than the UK average alone.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Stockport | £2,618.90 | +£6.13 |
| Broxtowe | £2,618.21 | +£5.44 |
| South Hams | £2,615.22 | +£2.45 |
| Gedling | £2,609.55 | −£3.22 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £2,609.20 | −£3.57 |
| Ashfield | £2,608.76 | −£4.01 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,741.85 | £174.19 | £1,306.39 |
| B | £2,032.15 | £203.22 | £1,524.11 |
| C | £2,322.46 | £232.25 | £1,741.85 |
| D | £2,612.77 | £261.28 | £1,959.58 |
| E | £3,193.39 | £319.34 | £2,395.04 |
| F | £3,774.00 | £377.40 | £2,830.50 |
| G | £4,354.62 | £435.46 | £3,265.97 |
| H | £5,225.54 | £522.55 | £3,919.15 |
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 Reading's 77,380 properties actually pay
Reading's housing stock peaks below the reference point, in Band C, which covers 31,530 of 77,380 dwellings (40.7%). A Band C home is charged at eight-ninths of the Band D rate, which is why the typical bill here lands under the headline figure. Bands B and C between them account for 60.1% of the stock. 69.5% 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 £2,441.84 per dwelling, £170.93 (6.5%) below the £2,612.77 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure Reading is 84th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places Reading 36th of the 64 billing authorities in South East, below the regional median of £2,511.00.
How to read this stock pattern
Reading'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 C charge is eight-ninths of the Band D rate, and 69.5% 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.
This is a two-band centre rather than a single-band market. Bands B and C together contain 60.1% 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.
Reading 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: Thurrock
Thurrock is the closest full-distribution match for Reading. The profiles are close rather than identical: 4.4% 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 is at reference Band D: its share is 15.8% in Reading and 18.2% in Thurrock. The familiar benchmark represents a larger slice of the peer's housing stock.
- A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band C: Reading has 40.7% of dwellings there, against 39.4% in Thurrock. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
- A smaller distinction sits at lower Band A, where Thurrock holds 10.7% of its stock and Reading holds 9.4%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction appears in the upper part of the ladder at Band G. Reading places 2.5% of dwellings there versus 1.3% for Thurrock, giving this profile the heavier upper-band tail at that point.
How the wider profile compares
Thurrock is more concentrated across Bands A to C in aggregate, by 0.6% of its stock. Reading's closest match is therefore achieved despite the peer carrying more homes below the reference band.
Reading carries 3.0% more of its stock in Bands E and above than Thurrock. 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 C, 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 H is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 0.1% and 0.1%. 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 Thurrock
- Band B leans toward Thurrock
- Band C leans toward Reading
- Band D leans toward Thurrock
- Band E leans toward Reading
- Band F leans toward Reading
- Band G leans toward Reading
- Band H is closely balanced
This sequence is read from the lowest published band to the highest.
Other close England matches for Reading: Adur (6.2% redistribution distance); Greenwich (8.7% redistribution distance); Broadland (8.9% redistribution distance); Harlow (8.9% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Thurrock stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 7,270 | 9.4% | £1,741.85 |
| B | 15,000 | 19.4% | £2,032.15 |
| C | 31,530 | 40.7% | £2,322.46 |
| D | 12,250 | 15.8% | £2,612.77 |
| E | 5,930 | 7.7% | £3,193.39 |
| F | 3,390 | 4.4% | £3,774.00 |
| G | 1,910 | 2.5% | £4,354.62 |
| H | 100 | 0.1% | £5,225.54 |
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 Reading 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.
- Cambridge£2,448.27
- Ashford£2,446.83
- Cheshire East£2,446.65
- Harborough£2,438.09
- Wychavon£2,433.50
Reading's nearest year-on-year movers
Reading moved Band D from £2,487.11 to £2,612.77 (+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%
- New Forest5.05%
- South Gloucestershire5.05%
- Brighton & Hove5.04%
How Reading compares in South East
Among the 64 billing authorities in South East, Reading's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,612.77 ranks 8th of 64, higher than 88% of them (£137.77 above the South East average of £2,475.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
Regional high-charge outlier: this authority sits in the costliest fifth of South East.
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 6th | Eastbourne | £2,654.28 |
| 7th | Isle of Wight | £2,625.79 |
| 8th | Reading | £2,612.77 |
| 9th | Waverley | £2,604.87 |
| 10th | Woking | £2,598.04 |
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 Reading's data
These answers use Reading's £2,612.77 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band C, 69.5% below D).
Is Reading Council Tax above the UK average?
Reading's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,612.77, 11.8% above the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 27th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Stockport, Broxtowe, South Hams, Gedling, then Kingston upon Thames, Ashfield.
Which councils have charges closest to Reading?
The closest published Band D rates are Stockport (£2,618.90), Broxtowe (£2,618.21), South Hams (£2,615.22), Gedling (£2,609.55), Kingston upon Thames (£2,609.20), Ashfield (£2,608.76). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from Reading.
What is the average Council Tax bill in Reading?
Across Reading's 77,380 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £2,441.84 for 2026-27. That is £170.93 below the £2,612.77 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band C (40.7% of the stock) and 69.5% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Adur, Greenwich, Broadland, Harlow. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did Reading Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,487.11 to £2,612.77, 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 Reading
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. Reading is unitary, so this figure combines its own charge (including adult social care) with police and fire precepts where separate, plus any average parish precept. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Stockport, Broxtowe, South Hams, Gedling, then Kingston upon Thames, Ashfield. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Adur, Greenwich, Broadland, Harlow. For a binding figure consult your Reading 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 Reading are the area Band D and statutory band multiples with no county tier. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Stockport, Broxtowe, South Hams, Gedling, then Kingston upon Thames, Ashfield.